The Chosen Three
by spashley20
Summary: Buffy/OneTreeHill x-over. Brooke, Rachel, and Peyton move in to the Summers house to help defeat the new big bad. Many relationships are tested and broken while others get stronger. Brachel, Fuffy, W/T & others. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Background: Loosely set in season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Peyton, Brooke, and Rachel are all 17 and juniors in high school. Dawn is 15 and freshmen. Buffy, Willow, Tara, Xander, and Anya are all 21-22. That's about all you need to know, enjoy :)**

**TREE HILL (PEYTONS BEDROOM)**

"Can you believe she said that?" Brooke asked with a pout. She was currently laying down facing the ceiling on Peyton's bed.

"Nope. It's a tragedy, really." Peyton replied sarcastically. This whole fighting thing was becoming a routine.

"I'm serious Peyton!"

"I know. That's the sad part. I've heard this story a million times just with a different insult." Peyton scoffed. "Now, just go to Rachel's house and make out or do whatever it is you do after fighting."

"I don't want to." Brooke said like a two-year-old would. She got out of bed and looked out the window. "Besides I-" Brooke stopped mid sentence when she heard a loud popping noise. She turned around to find a missing Peyton. "Fine, if you don't want to listen to my problems I'll just go to Rachel's house to complain about _you_!" Brooke grumbled as she grabbed her purse and walked out the door.

**SUNNYDALE (MAGIC BOX)**

"I could always use a spell…" Willow began before immediately being shut down.

"No. No spells. You know what big magic does to you. We'll just have to figure out another…" Buffy tackled Willow to the ground to avoid getting it by a water ball. They weren't sure what it did but they didn't want to find out. "…way. Quick behind the bookshelf."

They leaned against the bookshelf. "What is that thing?"

"Not sure. But I'm going to find out."

Buffy stepped out from behind the shelf. "It's a good thing you stopped by; I'm actually kind of thirsty!" Buffy jumped in the air, attempting to kick the things chest. The problem was it looked like a giant blob of water in a human shape. She merely went right through the water demon and crashed to the floor.

"Okay, plan B."

"What's plan B?" Willow called out from her spot behind the shelf.

"Wish I knew." Buffy replied before getting blasted by a water punch from the unknown demon. Her head hit the wall hard and she was instantly knocked out.

Just then, Dawn came bouncing in through the door. "Hey-" was all that got out of her mouth before being incased by some sort of water shell. It was slowly drowning her but she couldn't move.

"Dawn!" Willow cried out. She quickly mumbled a spell and put up her hands. A small electric bolt sprang from them and hit the demon in its…well it would be a chest if it wasn't water. It seemed to only annoy the demon but he turned around to look at Willow.

"Oh, I'll be back for you, witch. Don't you worry…" And as quickly as he had arrived, he was gone. The water shell broke and Dawn coughed up water.

Willow pulled Dawn into a hug. "I was so afraid…I'm so glad you are okay."

"Buffy…" Dawn pulled away from Willow and they both walked over to a groggy Buffy.

"I'm okay. Just a little bruised in the brain is all…" Buffy slowly got up. "Will…You used magic."

"I know and I'm sorry and I'll never do it again but Dawn was in trouble and I-" Willow rambled before Buffy interrupted.

"It's fine. You saved Dawn. Thank you." Buffy paused and then added "But never, _ever_ again, okay?"

Willow smiled. "Okay. Deal. And you're welcome."

"Now call Tara and Xander so we can figure out what the hell that was."

**One hour and ten books later…**

"Waterite." Willow read from the book.

Xander scoffed. "What a stupid name for a demon. He couldn't have been a little more original? Like…Okay I can't think of any right now. But I know that one is stupid."

Willow rolled her eyes and continued reading. "An invincible demon that is impossible to be stopped. Its main goal is to kill humans in order to keep it's energy. However, it only comes out when it's energy is low and usually picks specific targets by smell."

"Well isn't this great. A cologne-smelling demon that can't be stopped."

Buffy ignored Xander's comment. "There has to be a way to kill it."

"Well it says here that only the Chosen Three can defeat it. There's a summoning spell here."

"G-Great. Then we can summon the Three and bam, water problem solved." Tara said, walking over to read the summoning spell.

"But there's a catch. It says here they need to be trained."

"Trained? How are we supposed to train them?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know yet. But it's our best bet; we can't beat Waterite without them." Willow replied.

Buffy nodded her head. "Tara do the summoning spell."

"Wait! What if the Chosen Three are bunnies!?" Anya called out frantically.

Buffy waved her hand to signal for Tara to ignore Anya and to set up the candles. Tara began the chant. She said two lines in a language no one understood before ending with the English part. "Come to us. Let the red, brown, and white unite."

The room shook violently but stopped suddenly. They all heard a popping noise and turned to see a blonde.

"What the hell am I doing here?"

"A teenager? The Chosen Three is a teenager? Figures. Look we need your help to defeat Waterite." Buffy cut to the chase.

"Water what?"

Buffy's look of surprise matched Peyton's. "So, not only do we have to train her, but we have to explain the world of demons and evil-ness to her?" Buffy asked rhetorically. She walked over to Peyton.

"I'm Buffy. And these are my friends."

"Peyton." Peyton said her name but was still feeling uneasy.

"I know this is going to be a lot to take in but…" Buffy told her bits and pieces of their lives. Vampire slayer, witch, ex-vengeance demons, Waterite. All of the important stuff she needed to know.

"So, I'm a Chosen One?" Peyton asked, still wide-eyed.

"Actually, you're part of the Chosen Three. I think we need to repeat the spell two more times in order to get the other two." Tara replied quietly.

**TREE HILL (Brooke's car)**

"All I managed to get done today was argue with my girlfriend and have my best friend walk out on me. I so should have just gone shopping." Brooke ranted to the bobble-head dog on her dashboard.

_Pop._

Brooke's car, without it's driver, cruised into the nearest telephone pole.

**SUNNYDALE (MAGIC BOX)**

"Whoa. Head rush." Brooke put her hand to her forehead before looking around. "Peyton? What's going on?"

"Well…" Peyton began.

"You know her?" Xander interrupted.

"Yeah. Best friends actually."

"Let's just summon the last person before I have to tell the story a million times." Buffy impatiently interjected.

"Okay." Tara replied as she said the spell one final time.

The room shook as it had before, and suddenly another popping noise. There was Rachel donning nothing but short shorts and a sports bra. Apparently she had been running, and everyone noticed that the girl could pull off the sweaty look.

"Well I guess I understand the red, brown, and white part now." Xander announced. "You know. Redhead, brunette, blonde? Hair color." Xander clarified after getting blank looks.

Suddenly there was an outburst from Brooke. "Oh, of course! This makes perfect sense. This is all your fault!" Brooke shouted while pointing a finger at Rachel.

"My fault? I don't even know what the hell is going on!"

Buffy tried calming the two down. "Well I do so if you could just-"

Brooke didn't even hear her. "Every time something freaky happens to me you are _always_ the cause of it."

Rachel smirked. "You _know_ I'm always around when something freaky is going on." She slipped two fingers into Brooke's jean belt loops and pulled her closer so there was no space in between their bodies. Brooke's smirk quickly matched Rachel's as Rachel leaned in beginning a searing kiss.

Willow's mouth dropped open. "Whoa." Tara slapped Willow on the arm but Willow's gaze didn't falter.

Finally Buffy cleared her throat but Rachel and Brooke showed no signs of stopping.

"Oh yeah. That's Rachel, Brooke's girlfriend. They do that a lot; you'll get used to it."

"They were fighting two seconds ago. What's up with that?" Dawn finally asked after debating on whether or not she should talk to these new people.

"Ever heard that song 'I'm in Love With a Girl' by Gavin DeGraw?" Peyton asked.

Most of the scoobies nodded their heads.

"Well the line 'wants to make love when I wanna fight' pretty much defines their relationship."

"Fascinating." Willow replied while still watching the couple.

"How do we get them to stop?" Buffy asked.

"That's easy. Hey Brooke! Two for one sale over there!" Peyton said as she pointed to a random bookcase.

"Where?" Brooke shouted, practically shoving Rachel out of the way.

"Just kidding."

Brooke looked genuinely hurt as she glared at her best friend. "You're mean."

"So anyway…"

**One lengthy explanation later…**

Brooke ran a hand through her hair. "Alright so let's get this son of a bitch so I can get out of here."

The Scooby gang all gave each other secretive looks.

"Okay, what am I missing?" Brooke more demanded than asked.

"The thing is…"

"…we need to train you…"

"…and it could take months…"

"…so you'd have to move in…with us." Buffy ended after her and Willow had been finishing each other's sentences.

"Alright, whatever." Peyton replied.

"Peyton! What about-" Brooke called out in protest.

Rachel cut her off. "I'm in too. What do you say, Brooke? We could use a little action."

Brooke began mumbling incoherently to herself. "I cannot believe those two! How could they agree to leave Tree Hill so quickly? I mean I have…well I guess I have no family that cares about me there…and my best friend _and_ girlfriend are staying here…" Brooke ended her rant and looked up to see everyone staring at her.

"Does Sunnydale High have a cheering team?"

"One of the best." Buffy replied.

"I'm in."


	2. Chapter 2

**SUNNYDALE (SUMMERS HOUSE)**

"Well it's not much, but we call it home sweet home." Buffy said as she opened the front door. She guided Brooke, Peyton, and Rachel up the stairs and through the hallway.

"This is my room, and that is Tara and Willow's room." Buffy pointed to the corresponding doors. "Brooke and Peyton will be sharing the guest bedroom and Rachel is going to have to share with Dawn."

"What!" Brooke and Rachel both cried out in protest. "Why can't we share a room?"

"Because you're together." Buffy stated like it was obvious.

"So? Tara and Willow get to share!"

"Yeah, but they aren't teenagers. I'm trying to be the responsible adult here so stop arguing with me."

"I have to share a bedroom with a _freshman_?" Rachel asked with disgust lacing every syllable of the word freshman.

Buffy rubbed her temples. "What have I gotten myself into?" She mumbled. "My house, my rules! Now you two, get!" Buffy shoved Peyton and Brooke into their new room.

"Fine." Brooke whined. She and Peyton looked around the room. "Don't get any ideas Broody. You are not painting the walls."

Buffy grabbed Rachel's arm and dragged her into Dawn's room. "There's only one bed in here, so you'll have to sleep on the floor for now. I'll go grab you a sleeping bag."

Dawn looked up admiringly from her bed at Rachel. "So, I guess we're roomies."

Rachel sighed. "Guess so."

**SUNNYDALE (WILLOW & TARA'S ROOM)**

"We're lucky it's Christmas break. Gives us time to transfer them to Sunnydale and whatnot." Willow whispered. It was getting late and despite the high school being out for the week, they still had classes the next morning.

"Is it going to be weird?"

"Hmm?"

"W-w-well having three more teenage girls in the house. It's been hard enough just watching Dawn. We can barely protect her most of the time."

Willow motioned for Tara to wrap her arms around her. Tara quickly obliged.

"Everything's going to be fine. You're a damn good Wicca and we have a vampire slayer. Besides, they have powers of their own. Don't you worry about anything, okay? That's my job."

Tara kissed Willow quickly before closing her eyes and settling in for a well deserved rest.

**SUNNYDALE (BROOKE & PEYTON'S ROOM)**

"Is there anyone you can call that can box up your belongings?" Buffy asked from the doorway.

Brooke jumped. "Could you knock?"

"You are already just like Dawn. A pain in the- never mind. Just answer the question. Tara can use magic to get it here but it would be much less complicated if it was already boxed."

"Sure we'll call Lucas, thanks Buffy."

Buffy smiled. "No problem, Peyton." _Maybe one of these girls won't be so bad._

**TREE HILL (LUCAS'S ROOM)**

Lucas's cell phone rang and he reached over his laptop to pick it up. Peyton's name flashed across the screen.

"Hey baby."

"Lucas I don't really have much time to explain but I'm going away for awhile. So I need you to pack up everything in my room. Oh and Brooke and Rachel's room at their house. Please?"

"Okay."

"Thanks. Love you."

"You too."

Lucas flipped his phone shut.

_Ugh. I hate this whole good guy image I got going. Now that Peyton and Brooke are gone, I can go after someone else! Haley's gotten pretty good looking over the last few years. Who is her best friend? Damn it, I am. _Lucas groaned. _And I can't date myself, so I'll have to find two other people. Oh I know! Bevin and Theresa…_

**SUNNYDALE (NEXT MORNING IN THE KITCHEN)**

"Can you pass the cheerios?" Brooke asked Willow. They were the only two up at the moment.

Willow passed her the box. "So when do we start this whole training thing?"

"Tonight. We know the three of you have powers, but we don't know what they are yet. We are hoping that fighting vampires will cause you to act on your instincts and reveal them."

"Sweet…" Brooke took a bite of her cereal.

Buffy appeared in the kitchen looking disheveled. "Ouch. Sunlight bad." Buffy complained as the light from the window hit her face.

"Long night of dusting?" Willow laughed.

"Not funny Will. Pass the cheerios."

"So," Brooke interrupted. "You and Tara are together, right?"

"Yup." Willow beamed.

"But you don't fight?"

"Nope."

Brooke gasped. "Ever?"

"Once or twice."

Brooke scrunched up her eyebrows and rested her hand on her chin. "Fascinating."

"You have a twisted relationship, you know that, right? I mean, not all people fight to get horny."

"Says the one who is doing a vampire." Willow mumbled.

Buffy responded with a mean glare telling Willow to shut up.

"Vampire, huh? Details! This sounds juicy." Brooke clapped her hands together.

Luckily Dawn walked in. _Phew. Saved the by the runt. _Buffy thought as she watched her younger sister sit down at the table.

"Good morning, Dawnie!" Brooke cheerily greeted the fifteen-year-old.

Dawn grunted. "You do realize it's like 8 in the morning, right?"

"Yes."

"We've established that Willow and Brooke are morning people. The Summer sisters are not. So let's just stop all this talking and eat." Buffy was trying to say anything to make sure she didn't have to discuss the whole Spike situation. It was a sticky topic.

A few moments of silence passed until Willow spoke up.

"So, any idea when Rachel and Peyton will get up?"

"They don't get up unless I make them. They sleep like logs."

"I didn't know logs could sleep." Dawn piped up.

"It's an expression."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "That's stupid."

"You're stupid!" Brooke picked up a spoonful of cheerios and flung them at Dawn.

"You did not just do that." Dawn retaliated with a spoonful of her own and soon they were in an all-out cheerio war.

"I'm going to class." Willow sprinted out of the kitchen to avoid getting hit.

Buffy just sat there and brought her head down to the kitchen table. She began bumping her head against it while being showered from the rain of cheerios and milk.

"I'm only twenty-two and I already have four kids."

**Next Chapter: The Chosen Three's first meeting with vampires. **

**Thanks for the reviews :)**


	3. Chapter 3

TREE HILL

**SUNNYDALE (MAGIC BOX)**

Buffy paced back and forth until she reached her decision. "So I think it might be best if I only take one person in the first shift and the other two on the second shift."

"Why?" Brooke asked as she played with the skeleton head on the table she and the scoobies were sitting at.

"Well I can't really protect all three of you at once."

Rachel sat up with a frown. "Protect us? I thought we were supposed to be powerful."

"Y-y-you are, but since we don't know what powers you have yet, you c-c-can't use them." Tara said, staring at the floor. Out of all the scoobies, she was the most nervous around the new teenagers.

"Well what if we split up. Tara and I could take Brooke. Rachel could go with Spike. There are plenty of cemeteries to go around."

"No good. Spike is….out of town." Before Willow could ask Buffy to explain further the Magic Box door opened.

The dark haired woman looked at Buffy. "Hey girlfriend."

"Girlfriend? I thought you were straight?" Brooke asked.

"I am!" Buffy snapped. "That's Faith just being Faith. She comes around when she doesn't feel loved. She's like a lost puppy."

Faith laughed, unaffected by the insult. "Oh come on, B! Don't tell me you've been hiding us." Faith walked over to Buffy and threw her arm around the other slayer.

Buffy sighed but didn't move. She gestured towards the teens. "Guys, this is Faith. She's the other slayer I told you about. Faith…this is Brooke, Rachel, and Peyton."

Faith smiled, taking in the new names and faces. "So now I have two Bs, two Reds, and a Goldilocks. Makes things simple."

Brooke giddily sat up in her seat. "Oh my God! I call Peyton Goldilocks!"

"Well…good for you." Faith replied sarcastically but Brooke didn't seem to pick it up.

"Thanks! So Faith. Tell us about you and Buffy." Brooke eagerly waited for Faith to give up the dirt.

"Well, after our synchronized slaying, we get hungry and horny. One thing leads to another and-"

Buffy swiftly elbowed Faith in the stomach and finished her sentence. "We find a bag of chips and some fries. Anyway…" Buffy glared at Faith. "I need you to take Rachel on patrol. We're trying to figure out their powers."

"Aight. No need to get all touchy B."

"Whatever." Buffy pulled herself away from Faith's arm. "That leaves Peyton with me. Stock up on the wooden pointy things and lets go."

**SUNNYDALE (CEMETERY #1)**

Buffy and Peyton walked slowly down the path of gravestones. The night had been quiet so far with no vampires or demons sighted yet.

"So, this slayer thing. Have you always done it?"

"I've always been destined for it. I tried denying it at first, but you know. Destiny has a thing about not letting us change it."

"How'd Xander and Willow start helping you?"

"I met Xander and Willow when I was a sophomore and we just kinda…clicked. I don't know what I would do without them…"

"Yeah, I totally get that. Me and Brooke have been best friends since kindergarten. And our families are basically non-existent so we're like sisters."

Peyton and Buffy walked for a few more minutes in silence. "Got a girlfriend?" Buffy finally asked just to break the silence.

Peyton blushed a deep red. "No. No. Never. I'm straight."

Buffy gasped before jumping for joy. She wrapped her arms around Peyton. "Yay! It's going to be so great to have a straight girl around for a change!"

Peyton laughed before Buffy stiffened. "What?"

Buffy waited just a second and shouted, "Duck!"

**SUNNYDALE (CEMETERY #2)**

Rachel and Faith had dusted a few vampires but had yet to figure out Rachel's powers.

"Your skills are kinda impressive." Faith complimented Rachel after she had staked a catholic school girl/vampire.

"Thanks." Rachel winked and blew Faith a kiss.

Faith leaned in and whispered into Rachel's ear. "Trust me, you don't want to play that game. I play it better." Faith pulled back and bent down to examine the entrance to a crypt. "Besides, I was talking about your fighting skills. You don't have my slayer strength, but hey, it wasn't bad."

"I think I'm invisible." Rachel whispered.

"Yeah, I've felt that way. I'm the 'bad' slayer and-"

"No. I think I'm literally invisible!"

Faith turned around. "Holy shit. Lil B is gonna love that."

**SUNNYDALE (CEMETERY #3)**

"Safe to say we found Brooke's 'power'. How many is that? Four vamps in the last ten minutes?" Willow asked her blonde girlfriend.

"Yup. I guess she has slayer abilities." They continued to watch Brooke kick another vampire ass from their spot on a gravestone.

Brooke drove the stake through the vampire's heart and rushed over to Tara and Willow. She smiled as she flipped the stake in the air and caught it with her eyes closed.

"This is _so_ cool. I have super strength…like Superman!" Brooke giggled and sat beside Tara. Brooke smirked.

"What?" Willow asked. She was amused by the young brunette's enthusiasm.

"I bet my power is so much better than Rachel's."

**SUNNYDALE (CEMETERY #1)**

Buffy and Peyton ducked as a vampire flew over them. "Okay Peyton. Here's your first demon. Let's see what you can do."

Buffy sat on the nearest gravestone and crossed her legs. She laughed at the sight of Peyton's look of pure terror. "I'm not ready to do this alone!"

"It's just a newbie. Freshly dead. Well undead. Or is it the living dead? It's all the same thing after a while."

"Right." Peyton nodded and turned around to the vampire. Buffy's lack of helpful advice proved to help Peyton. The vampire growled and ran full force at her. Peyton yelped in surprise and threw her hands up. A gleaming red bolt sprang from her hands instantaneously causing the vampire to burst into flame and then dust.

Buffy looked on in awe. "Neat."

**SUNNYDALE (BROOKE AND PEYTON'S ROOM)**

**2 hours later…**

Brooke and Rachel were sitting on Brooke's bed. Rachel had her arm lazily slung around Brooke's waist but no one knew that since Rachel had yet to become visible again. Peyton was laying down on her bed looking up at the ceiling.

"Can you believe it? I'm kind of a slayer, you're kind of a witch, and Rachel is Invisible Girl."

"They said they are going to figure out how to get me back so stop calling me that!"

"But think about all the interesting things you could do!" Brooke argued.

"I didn't say I didn't like being invisible." Rachel brought her hand across Brooke's thigh. "It certainly has it's advantages…"

"Ew! Whatever is going on over there, stop. Actually, Rachel you can leave. I bet Dawn is waiting for you."

"Fine."

"You may be invisible but I can still hear sound. No door opening or closing. I mean it, get out or I'm telling Buffy."

"Fine!" Rachel got up and opened the door. "What did I ever do to you?" Was the last thing Rachel mumbled before closing the door and going to her room.

"You suck P. Sawyer."

"If you think I was going to sit here and watch you grope the air you are crazy."

"So you'd watch if you could see Rachel too?" Brooke snickered.

"Okay. I admit that came out wrong."


	4. Chapter 4

Brooke woke up the next day and jumped out of bed. She stretched and yawned as she ran into her closet to get dressed. Today was a big day for her. She wanted to go to the Sunnydale mall so that she could by everyone Christmas presents. That and she needed a new outfit for the Christmas Eve party at the Bronze that night.

Brooke jumped on Peyton. "Wake up best friend! Time to go shopping!"

Peyton's response was a grunt. "Ugh. No."

"Come on, come on, wake up!" Brooke pushed down on Peyton's bed causing the blonde to get extremely irritated.

"Back. The. Fuck. Off." Peyton replied without opening her eyes or moving position. She simply ignored all of Brooke's protests.

"Fine. No present for you then." Brooke, not ready to give up, walked out of her room and into Rachel's.

She had a different approach to getting Rachel to wake up. "Baby…" Brooke bent down and began to kiss up Rachel's neck. "Time to go shopping with your favorite girlfriend…"

Rachel smiled. "I can't. I have a training session with Buffy in an hour. So go away."

Brooke instantly backed away from her girlfriend. "Fine! You and Peyton are so on my shit list." Brooke huffed and walked out of the room and down to the kitchen. She found Dawn eating a pancake.

"Well, not what I wanted, but it will do." Brooke mumbled to herself. She cleared her throat. "So Dawn. Wanna go shopping?"

**SUNNYDALE (MALL)**

"Wow Brooke. I didn't think you'd be _this_ spendy." Dawn looked at the six bags Brooke had in her hands. "I think everyone is going to love the gifts you bought them. All I did was make them picture frames."

"Oh Dawnie, they'll love them! Besides, personal beats something bought every time."

Dawn smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem."

"Whoa. Look at that. It's gorgeous." Dawn looked admiringly at a necklace with a diamond-encrusted heart hanging from it. The letter 'D' was in the middle. Dawn checked the price tag. "Ouch." She sulkily walked away from the store window and caught up with Brooke who had walked a few feet ahead.

**SUNNYDALE (SUMMERS HOME)**

"Buffy!" Brooke whined. "You have to let us go to this party! It's a big party and it's our first step into controlling the school."

Buffy rolled her eyes at the last part of Brooke's plea. "Fine. But you have to take Dawn."

"What? No. She's not old enough."

"Faith and I are patrolling and Tara and Willow are out. So take Dawn or you can't go."

Reluctantly Brooke agreed. Brooke, Rachel, Peyton, and Dawn drove to the Bronze in Brooke's light blue beetle.

"So what's so important about going to this party anyway?"

"It's our way in. What's that popular chicks name again?" Rachel replied to Dawn's question.

"Cordeila Chase. She basically runs the school."

"And she'll be there?"

"Yup."

"Excellent. Now here are the rules Dawn. Rachel and I aren't together in public, okay? We're just over-possessive best friends with a weird lesbian vibe." All three cheerleaders giggled at Rachel's quote. "But seriously," Brooke continued, "you can't tell anyone."

**SUNNYDALE (BRONZE)**

The four girls took a table and studied Cordeila. "Typical popular bitch. Nothing we haven't dealt with before." Rachel shouted over the music to Brooke.

"Ready to make our move?"

"Yeah! Let's go!" Dawn shouted.

"Okay, see, here's the deal. You sit here with Peyton while me and Rachel go and have a big girl talk with Cordeila. We can't bring a freaky freshman with us."

Dawn's face dropped. "Okay…" Brooke and Rachel got up and walked towards Cordeila.

"Don't worry about them. It's nothing personal…" Peyton tried comforting the distraught looking Dawn.

Dawn attempted a lie. "No, it's totally cool. I get it."

"So, I hear you're Cordeila Chase." Brooke crossed her arms and stood in front of the infamous Cordy.

"Yeah, everyone knows who I am. Who are _you_?" Cordeila stood up and crossed her arms, recognizing Brooke's challenge.

"New here. This is my best friend Rachel." Brooke pointed to the redhead behind her who just nodded her head. "We have a deal to present to you. We get into your dumb little group here," Brooke waved her hand towards Harmony and Cordy's other friends. "And we won't destroy your reputation."

"What makes you think you could?"

Brooke smirked. She grabbed Rachel's hand and walked to the middle of the dance floor. Brooke put her back to Rachel's chest and began dancing. Rachel grabbed both of Brooke's hands, raising their right hands in the air and leaving their left hands by their hips. Within moments a crowd of boys had circled around them.

Brooke pulled away from Rachel and bumped up against a boy before returning to Cordy. "Because. We're hot and we get this whole reputation thing."

Cordy looked a little irritated before putting a fake smile on. "Okay. You're in." She began introducing Brooke and Rachel to her other friends.

"That's how they make friends? Shallow much?" Dawn commented. She and Peyton had seen the whole event take place.

"It's their character flaw I guess. They are fine with the whole fake friend thing because they know they will always have each other and me."

"But you don't like the fakeness of it all?"

"Nah. Not my thing."

"Brooke was actually nice to me today. I don't get how she switches personalities so fast."

Peyton shrugged. She didn't have an answer.

"Our work here is done. Lets go." Brooke shouted to Peyton and Dawn as they headed for the exit.

**SUMMERS HOME (BROOKES ROOM)**

"Baby are you sure they won't come in?" Rachel asked.

"I'm positive. They are all downstairs. Come here…" Brooke pulled Rachel down onto her bed. "I know you love being on top..." Brooke smirked and pulled Rachel onto her. Rachel kissed Brooke's collar bone before kissing a trail up Brooke's neck. She then kissed Brooke, gently at first, then getting rougher. Brooke ran her fingers through fiery red hair. She broke away and looked into Rachel's eyes. She was nervous but she thought she was ready to say it.

"I love you…"

Rachel looked like a deer caught in headlights until she accidentally went invisible. "Uh…um...I…"

She jumped off of Brooke and ran towards the door. "I don't think this is a good idea, I mean, Buffy could catch us at any moment. I'm just going to bed."

"Rachel! Wait!" Brooke wanted to stop her girlfriend but she couldn't see her. "Great." A single tear ran down Brooke's face. She laid down on the bed and tried to get some sleep.

**SUMMERS HOME (CHRISTMAS DAY)**

Of course Brooke was the first out of bed that morning. She ran downstairs, excited to give her presents out. Since no one else was up she nervously paced back and forth in the living room. Eventually, Willow and Tara joined her.

"Yay!" Brooke clapped her hands and then practically threw her present at Tara and Willow.

Tara blushed. "Brooke you didn't have to g-g-get us anything…"

Brooke scoffed. "I'm rich. Why shouldn't I spend some money on my friends?"

Tara and Willow quietly unwrapped the gift and thanked her with a hug. "We always said we'd get one of these one day."

Brooke smiled and ran upstairs. She decided she couldn't wait any longer. She flung open Buffy's room to find Buffy in bed and Faith sleeping on a cot. "Wakey wakey slayers!"

Buffy and Faith opened their gifts to find matching leather jackets with the word _Slayer_ going across the back. Buffy's had a one on the sleeve and Faith had a two.

"You have got to be kiddin' me Lil B. I'm not wearin' somethin' that matches me with B. Especially somethin' this corny."

"Aw, it'd be so adorable though! Fighting side by side with matching outfits." Brooke protested.

"I love it, Brooke. Thanks." Buffy said, getting a what-the-hell-are-you-thinking look from Faith.

Brooke, content with Buffy's reaction, happily skipped out of the room.

"What? Stop looking at me like that. It was really nice of her to do." Buffy said trying to get Faith to stop looking at her.

Brooke then ventured into Dawn's room. "Hi, Dawnie. Open it."

Dawn excitedly ripped open the wrapping paper. "Wow…I can't even…Just wow…"

Dawn couldn't believe her eyes. Brooke had gotten her the necklace that she had fell in love with at the mall. "How did you even know? You were ahead of me…"

"I pay attention more than people think." Brooke winked, hugged Dawn, and ran to give Peyton her gift. She wasn't sure where Rachel was and how she was feeling about last night, so she decided just to leave her present in Dawn's room.

**BRONZE (THAT NIGHT)**

Brooke had decided to go to the Bronze that night since she still had yet to find Rachel. Dancing could be a good way to make her feel better. Besides, no one should be sad on Christmas. Dawn had come along but Brooke immediately ditched her. "Again, can't be seen with you. I'll meet you back at the front at twelve." The cheerleader walked away from Dawn and into the crowded dance floor.

Dawn angrily swore. "God. I wish Brooke was in love with someone other than herself!" As an after thought she added "…or Rachel."

Little did she know, Halfrek had been sitting at the bar behind her.

Halfrek cackled. "You wished it. It shall be done."


	5. Chapter 5

**DARK ALLEYWAY **

"I think the dark slayer is hot."

"No, no. The blonde one is definitely much hotter."

"Dude! She's so…dainty. It'd be much more fun to track down the dark slayer."

"Um, dude, do you honestly think you can kill either of the hot slayers?" Buffy mocked the two vampires from her spot on top of a dumpster.

"I am the hotter one though." Faith replied causing Buffy to roll her eyes. They leapt off the dumpster, each landing on one of the vampires' backs. They swiftly reached over the vampires' left shoulder and staked them.

Faith high-fived Buffy. "Nice one, B."

"Thanks, that was the easiest one all night. So, want to head to the Bronze? Still a while before we have to get back to the house."

Faith roughly pushed Buffy against a building wall. "I don't know B." Faith put one hand against the wall on each side of Buffy's head.

Buffy gulped. "What are you doing Faith?"

Faith leaned down and whispered in Buffy's ear. "I kinda wanted a repeat of last night."

"Faithhh." Buffy whined.

"Come on B. You have just as much fun doing it as I do." Faith locked eyes with Buffy merely centimeters away from her lips. "Scared?"

"Fine. I'll play… I believe it was my turn…" Buffy quickly brought her fist to Faith's chin, knocking the taller slayer to the floor. "You're it!" Buffy shouted as she took off down the alleyway. She hopped the fence and continued to sprint in the direction of the Bronze.

"You are such a cheater!" Faith called out as she got up from the floor and sprinted after her slayer counterpart.

**THE BRONZE**

Brooke scanned the crowd looking for a potential dance partner. She was about to go join Cordy and her friends when familiar arms wrapped around her waist from behind.

Brooke spun around and laughed. "Peyton! What are you doing here?"

"I knew you were feeling down about the Rachel thing so I decided to come here and help cheer you up!"

Brooke frowned. "How do you know about Rachel? Oh my gosh! She talked to you! Where is she? What'd she say?"

"Look…" Peyton sighed. "She's totally freaked about the 'I love you' thing. But just give her time. I know she feels the same way." Peyton grabbed Brooke's hand and forced her to the dance floor. "Let's forget about that for now and just dance, okay?"

Brooke nodded and followed her best friend into the crowd.

Buffy burst through the doors of the Bronze and ran up the steps to the elevated part of the club. She stopped dead when she saw Brooke and Peyton dancing. Brooke had a weird green glow around her but when it disappeared Brooke passed out into Peyton's arms. "Brooke!"

Before Buffy could make her way to the passed out teen, she was suddenly tackled to the ground.

"Ha! That was way to easy, B." Faith smiled in her triumph.

"Get off! Something is wrong." After Faith got off of her, Buffy made her way through the hoards of people until she reached Brooke.

"Peyton what happened? Is she drunk?"

"No! I don't know what happened!" Peyton had silent tears streaming down her cheeks. "Is she going to be okay?"

"I think it's supernatural. Let's go home and see what Tara can tell us." Buffy lifted Brooke into her arms and the four of them found Dawn and walked home.

Halfway home Brooke groggily opened her eyes and looked up at the slayer carrying her. "Buffy!" Brooke smiled.

"It's okay Brooke. You're going to be okay." Buffy tried to reassure her.

"I know. You're here, so it'll all be okay." Brooke dreamily answered before falling back into her sleep-like state.

Faith, who had been listening, gave Buffy a confused look. Buffy simply shrugged. "I have no idea."

**SUMMERS HOUSE**

Dawn walked down the stairs humming the latest Britney Spears song. "Note to self: Listen to new music." Dawn said to herself. She walked into the kitchen and instantly covered her eyes. "Oh my God! You and Faith are disgusting!" She ran away from the kitchen and shouted "My eyes! They burn!"

"What is the brat's problem?" Faith asked with a mouthful of pizza.

"Who knows?" Buffy looked around at the four empty pizza boxes surrounding them. "Maybe it's the food?"

Before Faith could comment back they heard a scream come from upstairs.

"GET OFF! HELP! HELP!"

**SUMMERS HOUSE (BROOKES ROOM)**

Brooke woke up to see a red-headed girl sitting on the side of her, holding her hand. She scrunched up her eyebrows and slipped her hand way from the redhead. "Um, hello?"

Rachel jumped in surprise but quickly regained her composure. "I'm so happy you are okay!" She hugged Brooke and tried to kiss her.

Brooke recoiled in horror and screamed at the top of her lungs. "GET OFF! HELP! HELP!"

Within seconds Buffy and Faith were in Brooke's room. They both looked a little panicked. "What's going on?"

"Buffy!" Brooke pushed Rachel off of her and hugged Buffy. Rachel's face fell and Faith laughed, trying to get rid of the awkwardness of the situation.

"That freak," Brooke pointed to Rachel, "tried to kiss me! I don't even know her!"

Brooke hugged Buffy again, this time not letting go. "Thank god you got here though. Tell that freak that you're my girlfriend and you'll beat her up if she even tries to touch me again."

This time all three girls' mouths opened in shock.

Buffy coughed. "Girlfriend?"

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews and adds :) I really appreciate them! Did I have you guys going with the Faith/Buffy scenes? Haha. Sorry if this came out weird but I had to write it with "I'll never tell" stuck in my head the entire time. Very annoying when you're trying to write lol. Anyway, tell me what you thought :) & if you were a little confused, don't worry, next chapter will clear things up.**


	6. Chapter 6

_Brooke hugged Buffy again, this time not letting go. "Thank god you got here though. Tell that freak that you're my girlfriend and you'll beat her up if she even tries to touch me again."_

_This time all three girls' mouths opened in shock._

_Buffy coughed. "Girlfriend?"_

"Yeah, silly." Brooke giggled and attempted to kiss Buffy. Buffy tilted her head causing Brooke to only kiss her cheek.

"Uh, okay. This is freaky." Willow called out from the bedroom entrance. She and Tara had to rush and put clothes on once they heard the commotion. "What's with the lips and the hugging?"

Buffy instantly unwrapped Brooke from her waist and backed up towards the exit. "Just give me a sec to talk to Willow."

Brooke smiled and replied, "Okay!"

Willow, Buffy, and Faith walked into the hallway and started talking all at once.

"Enough!" Buffy silenced her two friends. "This has got to be a spell of some sort. I saw a green glowy thing around Brooke before she passed out."

"I agree."

"Will, how do we break the spell?"

"Well I need time to research-"

Faith put her hand up, signaling to the others that she wanted them to be quiet.

"I think it's obvious how to break it. Buffy's gotta break up with her."

Willow nervously played with her hands. "I don't know Faith. The repercussions are unknown …We don't even know what's going on yet."

"I'm not breaking up with her! I'm not even with her! I'm not even _gay_!" Buffy emphasized the fact that this was all just a screwed up spell.

"Buffy stop rambling. We know you aren't really with her but Brooke thinks she is. So maybe if you break up with her the spell will break." Faith tried reasoning with the blonde slayer.

Buffy sighed. "What the hell. It's worth a try."

The three of them walked back into Brooke's room. Brooke smiled. "Hey."

"Brooke…Could we talk? Like, alone?"

"Sure, Buffy." Brooke shooed everyone else out of the room.

**Two minutes later…**

Brooke was sobbing uncontrollably into her pillow as Buffy stood outside the door.

"Yeah, break up with her and the spell will break, great idea Faith!" Buffy sarcastically said as she fake grinned at Faith.

"Shut up, alright? I was just trying to help."

Buffy snapped at Faith. "Help, right. It seems things always turn out bad when you try to help."

Faith shook her head and walked away. "I don't need this."

Willow sighed. "That was uncalled for Buff."

"I know. I was just letting off some steam…"

"Come on, let's go downstairs and try to figure this out." Willow linked arms with her best friend as they headed downstairs to call up the gang and figure out what happened to Brooke.

**Three hours later…SUMMERS LIVING ROOM**

Peyton walked into the living room to see Buffy, Willow, Faith, Tara, Xander, and Anya all sitting around reading through various books.

"Anything?" Peyton asked.

"Nothing yet." Willow looked up from her book. "Any changes with Brooke?"

"No. She's still crying her eyes out. I can't get her to stop. It isn't normal. For any human, even one who had their heart broken."

Buffy gazed out the window. "It must be part of the curse. I break up with her and suddenly she has no control over herself."

Xander continued her thought. "It's like she can't live without you."

Buffy put her head in her hands. "We have to figure this out and fast."

"Oh! I have an idea!" Buffy nodded her head, asking Anya to continue.

"Halfrek! Halfrek! Get your crazy ass down here!" In a swirl of wind Halfrek entered the room.

"I…have arrived!" Halfrek said overdramatically.

"Halfrek, did you curse Brooke?"

"Ah, yes. Brooke Davis. My, that was a fun curse!"

"What is the curse exactly?"

"Well someone wished for Brooke to be in love with someone other than herself or Rachel. So, I made her completely dependent on Buffy. Not only have I made it so that Brooke will forever love someone that doesn't love her back, but I also hurt the slayer in the process."

"Wow, I'm impressed Hallie!" Anya blurted out without thinking. "I mean…disgusted!" Anya tried to backtrack.

"Who would wish something like that on Brooke?" Willow asked the vengeance demon.

"Not so fast, witch. I can't tell you. Client-demon confidentiality you know."

Buffy stood up. "Reverse it, now!"

"Sorry dear. The curse has been set and I cannot reverse it. Toodles." Halfrek vanished with a snap of her fingers.

"What are we going to do now?" Buffy asked frantically.

"I'll kill her. That's what's gonna happen." Faith got up, ready to go and find Halfrek.

"Don't. You'd be wasting your time Faith. Trust me, I'd know. There was this one time when this guy tried to come back and-"

Peyton spoke up, interrupting the ex-vengeance demons story. "I know I'm no magic expert, but I think you need to go make up with Brooke. I hate seeing her like this, and she's going to die of exhaustion from all the crying. Please. Help save her."

"Peyton's right Buffy. You have to pretend. You don't have to kiss her but you have to keep her believing that you love her." Willow picked up a book. "I promise you we'll find a way to fix this."

Suddenly Rachel appeared rightt in front of Buffy's face. "She's _my_ girlfriend! What makes you think I'm okay with you being with Brooke?"

"Back off Rachel. I didn't ask for this!" Buffy retorted.

"If you so much as even try _anything_ with her I'll-"

"Woah, let's calm down a sec, Red. You're talkin' to a slayer." Faith pulled Rachel away from Buffy and towards the kitchen. Buffy gave Faith a questioning look. "Don't worry, I got her. You go talk to Brooke."

**KITCHEN**

"Listen Red. I know you're freakin' a bit over this whole Buffy/Brooke thing, but don't worry. It's all fake."

"It doesn't matter that it's fake, Faith. I care about her, and she doesn't even remember me! And don't tell me you aren't hurt by this." Rachel lowered her voice. "I see the way you look at Buffy."

Faith immediately went into defense mode. "Phst. Me and B? That's a good one."

"It's okay. You can trust me."

Faith sighed. "Whatever. Then if you care about Brooke the way I care about Buffy, then you know you have to chill. It's the only way to keep Brooke safe for now. You want her safe, don't ya?"

"I guess so." Rachel smirked.

"Watcha smilin' at?"

"You just got all Oprah on me, Faith."

Faith gave Rachel a playful shove. "Tell anyone and I'll have to kill you."

**BROOKES ROOM**

Buffy knocked on the door and quietly called out to Brooke.

"Go away."

"It's Buffy."

The door swung open. Buffy gasped at the sight of Brooke. Her eyes were swollen and red. Tears were streaming down her face.

Buffy pulled Brooke into a hug. "I'm sorry. I don't want to breakup."

Brooke, being under the spell, only needed to hear the apology once. She stopped crying almost instantly. "I love you, Buffy."

Buffy crossed her fingers behind Brooke's back like she used to do when she was little. It was the only way to cancel out the lie. "Yeah, uh, I love you too."

**Leave me a review. All the ones from last chapter were greatly appreciated. So, I have a few people floating around in my head of who to set Peyton up with. Ideas? Can be anyone at all, doesn't have to be in my story yet. Just want to see what you would be interested in reading. She can just stay alone too if you want that lol. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**The next day…(MAGIC BOX)**

After the events of yesterday, Xander thought it was the right time to announce his engagement to Anya. Maybe some good news would be able to cheer everyone up.

Brooke and Buffy were sitting at the table, casually holding hands. Brooke was grinning but Buffy was looking at Faith. Faith was pacing back and forth with her arms crossed, impatiently waiting for the arrival of the rest of the gang.

"Faith, could you chill? You're making me nervous. I don't know _why_ it makes me nervous, but it does." Peyton called out from her seat near Rachel.

"Goldilocks, if you ask me to 'chill' ever again I swear I'll-"

Buffy quickly interrupted the other slayers threat. "Faith. Chill."

Faith gritted her teeth but stopped pacing. Peyton made a whipping sound causing Rachel and herself to laugh.

"That's it!" Faith jumped up and started running towards Peyton but before she even got close Buffy stepped in front of her.

"What is your problem?" Buffy scrunched her eyebrows up in confusion.

"Nothing. I'm just…on edge. I need a good vamp fight."

Buffy nodded and Faith sighed in relief that Buffy accepted that excuse. Tara, Willow, Xander, and Anya all walked in before anything else could be said. After a moment or two of shuffling around, Xander stood in front of everyone and made the announcement.

"Anya and I…are getting married!" Applause broke out from Brooke causing everyone else to clap awkwardly.

"Wow…"

"Congrats…"

Brooke jumped up excitedly and ran to Anya. "Oh. My. God. Can I please be a bridesmaid?"

Anya laughed. "I barely even know you! Willow, Buffy, and Tara shall be my bridesmaids."

Brooke frowned. "Please! I totally make any dress look hot, even if it's ugly."

Anya still looked unconvinced.

"I'll buy you a _really _expensive wedding gift!"

Anya's expression immediately perked up. "Okay! You can take Willow's spot. I never really liked her anyway."

"Hey!" Willow called out, slightly offended.

"Let's be honest Willow. We fight. A lot."

"But…"

"Guys."

"I thought we actually made progress…" Willow rambled.

"Guys!" Buffy shouted a second time. "Do you see that dark puddle over there? That wasn't here when we got here, was it?"

As if he was answering her question, Waterite arose from the dark puddle. "I smell…witches. Two of them. And…" Waterite seemed to sniff the air. "Two slayers. This will be a feast for me tonight." Waterite began advancing on the group of people.

"Peyton, Rachel, Brooke, that's your cue."

Rachel instantly disappeared, and Brooke tried to attack the demon. Like Buffy had done the first time, Brooke went right through him and landed hard on the floor. Peyton had hid behind Tara. "I'm not ready for this." She whispered.

"You can do this Peyton. Go and help your friends."

Before Peyton could react, Waterite sent a shield at everyone except the Chosen Three. They could not get past the barrier, leaving Peyton and Brooke defenseless.

"Ah, the Chosen Three. They get weaker and weaker each time a new generation comes."

Unfortunately, Rachel reappeared inches away from Waterite. "Uh oh."

Waterite sent Rachel flying with a water punch and then encased her with a water shell. She instantly began gasping for air.

"Will you have to do something!" Buffy pleaded with the witch.

"I'm trying!" Willow began murmuring under her breath.

Waterite walked towards the injured Brooke. "One down. Two more to go."

Brooke stood up and regained her fighting stance. She was afraid. Afraid to die, afraid to lose Rachel (even though she barely knew the girl) and afraid to lose Peyton. She was determined to beat this monster.

Just as Brooke was about to make a move, a blinding flash of a purple energy bolt went coursing through the demon. It wasn't very strong, but it caused some damage. The bolt also caught Brooke's left arm.

Waterite screamed and disappeared. Peyton put her arms down and collapsed to the floor in exhaustion.

Instincts kicked in as the shield disappeared. Willow ran to Peyton, Buffy to Brooke, and Faith to Rachel.

Faith bent down and performed CPR until Rachel coughed up the water from her lungs. "Jesus Faith get your nasty lips away from me." Faith laughed and hugged the younger girl.

"Rachel's okay." Faith called out to the other girls.

"So is Peyton."

"I don't know about Brooke you guys. Her arm is burnt." Buffy was worried. This was her fault. She wasn't training them hard enough. She had barely trained them at all.

Faith walked over to the distressed Buffy. "Don't worry about it B. She's probably got slayer healin'. She'll be fine. We'll go home and first aid it."

**That night…**

"Brooke…I'm really sorry." Buffy apologized as they walked down the sidewalk.

"About what?" Brooke asked, looking at the older girl.

"I…should have made you train harder. You three aren't ready to face him yet. I just wanted to let you guys have a normal holiday and-"

"Buffy." Brooke grabbed Buffy's hand reassuringly. "It's okay. It was my fault for making you let us go clubbing instead. Besides, we're training now, and my arm is going to be fine in no time."

Buffy laughed. "You are way too perky."

Brooke smirked. "You love it."

Faith and Rachel caught up to the two other girls at the cemetery entrance. Faith threw her arm over Buffy. "Let's show them how to kick some ass."

The four of them went into the graveyard and wandered around until they found a small group of vampires. "Brooke and I will get the ones near that big tree stump thingy, and you and Rachel can get the ones over there." Buffy whispered and pointed to three or four vamps near the outside of a crypt.

Brooke and Buffy defeated their opponents in no time.

"Buffy I think you should teach me something. These vamps are no contest."

"Oh god now you sound like Faith." Buffy mumbled.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Okay…let's see…" Buffy walked around Brooke and without warning the younger girl, she brought her hand in the air and tried to hit her head. Brooke, without hesitation, grabbed the slayer's hand and flipped her to the ground. Buffy got up and faced her but Brooke kicked her to the ground once more. Losing her balance, Brooke fell on top of Buffy.

"Well, it wasn't perfect, but you have good instincts." Buffy smiled at Brooke, hoping to show she was happy with her performance.

Brooke smiled and bravely brushed a hair away from Buffy's face. She let her fingers linger on Buffy's cheek. "You are so beautiful." Brooke whispered.

Brooke leaned down, kissing Buffy. Surprisingly, the slayer let her. It didn't get overly intimate as Rachel came storming towards them.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM BROOKE!"

**AN: Thanks for the reviews!! I think I've decided to leave Peyton's love life alone for now. I'll write it in the story eventually when it fits i suppose.**


	8. Chapter 8

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM BROOKE!"

Brooke and Buffy pulled away at hearing the voice. They looked around but couldn't see anyone.

Invisible Rachel pushed Brooke off of Buffy. "Rachel." Buffy whispered.

Without hesitation, Rachel sat on top of Buffy and pushed her shoulders down to prevent the slayer from moving. "Are you crazy? How dare you take advantage of her?" Rachel asked in a hushed tone, she didn't want Brooke overhearing her. "She loves _me_, Buffy. Me!"

Rachel had the sudden urge to hit the blonde slayer, but she didn't. She sighed in frustration and walked away.

Brooke rushed to Buffy's side. "Are you okay? And what the hell was that about?"

"Fine. It was nothing; I guess Faith gave her a test or something. She, uh, had to stay invisible long enough to knock me down. And she passed." _In more ways than one. _

"Oh, okay. I think we should get back to what we were doing…" Brooke smiled mischievously and leaned in towards Buffy.

"Yeah, training."

Brooke sighed. "So not what I was thinking."

"Okay. Lesson number one. You should always know your environment. The way it can help or hurt you…" Buffy rambled about the importance of being aware of what was around you.

But she couldn't help but think of Rachel's words. She had slipped up. She had kissed Brooke. She had fallen for a curse. Brooke didn't _really _love her. Buffy knew she had to watch herself; she couldn't let herself feel anything for Brooke, because her feelings would be real.

**A crypt on the other side of the cemetery…**

Rachel leaned against the dank crypt wall and slid down it. She wrapped her arms around her knees and stared through the darkness. "How'd you find me?" Rachel asked the figure in the shadows.

"I'm a super slayer with wicked good hearing."

Rachel laughed. "No, really."

"Fine, you aren't invisible anymore so it wasn't that hard."

Rachel looked down at herself. "Oh yeah, you're right."

Faith walked over to the same wall and slumped down next to the cheerleader. "Are you okay, Red?"

"No." Rachel answered honestly. "Are you?"

Faith scoffed and replied sarcastically, "Five by five, Red."

"This really sucks."

"I know."

A moment of silence passed and Faith looked over at Rachel. "Hey, you're invisible again."

"I think I'm learning how to control it." Rachel replied with little enthusiasm. "I just have to focus."

Another moment of silence passed. "She made me feel."

Faith's face filled with confusion. "Huh?"

"I slept with so many guys before I met her. And each time I felt _nothing_. And then when I moved to Tree Hill and met her…My life changed. _I_ changed. It's not just about seeing her with another girl. I miss her. Touching her, kissing her, holding her. Hell, even fighting with her. And it's only been like two days."

Faith threw her arm around Rachel in a comforting gesture. "Sounds like love, Red."

Rachel had to choke back a sob. Faith confirmed something that scared the hell out of Rachel. She loved Brooke and messed up by not telling her.

"We will find a way to break this curse. I promise."

Rachel looked at Faith's eyes and then down at her lips. Without thinking, Rachel savagely attacked Faith's lips with her own. Faith returned the gesture.

"This means nothing." Rachel mumbled as she ripped off Faith's jacket.

"I've done this way more times than you have. I'm the queen of it meaning nothing."

**MAGIC BOX**

"Just feel the magic coursing through you…follow your instincts and don't be afraid…" Tara calmly said to the meditating Peyton. "Breathe…"

Peyton took a deep inhale and then exhaled slowly. She opened her eyes. "All I feel like I'm doing is taking up all the oxygen in the room."

Tara sighed. "Peyton if you don't believe in what we are trying to teach you will never be able to control your power. Now try it again."

Peyton rolled her eyes but retook her meditation stance. Willow walked in with a giant book that she hastily threw on the table.

Peyton jumped at the unexpected noise. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"I was testing you. You shouldn't let anything distract you."

"Why can't I just do what you guys do? Aim, mumble a few weird languages, and then the monster goes poof."

"We both started where you are right now. Besides, you know that isn't how your powers work."

Tara stepped forward and grabbed Peyton's hand. "Watch, I'll do it with you."

**A crypt on the other side of the cemetery…**

"No one can find out that just happened." Faith said as she pulled her jeans on and buttoned them.

"I know."

Rachel and Faith awkwardly put the rest of their clothes on. "No more training tonight. Let's just find the Bs and go home."

Rachel and Faith walked in silence.

Rachel silently cursed herself. _Does it count as cheating?_


	9. Chapter 9

Rachel and Brooke walked in silence as they trailed the two slayers. "So…you can control your invisibility now?" Brooke asked, breaking the silence.

"For the most part." Rachel replied, putting her hands in her coat pockets.

Brooke smirked. "Show me."

Rachel complied and went invisible.

"That is _so_ cool."

Rachel reappeared on the opposite side of Brooke, causing the brunette to jump.

Rachel laughed as Brooke smacked her arm. "Don't do that!" They continued walking. "There are so many badass things you could do." Brooke added as an afterthought.

A sad smile formed on Rachel's face. "Yeah, we've had this discussion already."

Brooke tilted her head in confusion. "Huh?"

Faith overheard the remark and quickly interrupted. "Hey Red, zip it. Me and B are tryin' to have a conversation up here."

"Sorry." The redhead mumbled.

The foursome arrived at the Magic Box to see Anya counting money and Willow reading a book.

"Hey, Buff." Willow called out without looking up. "Scooby meeting in five."

"Okay." The two slayers walked over to Anya and Willow.

"Listen. We need to kill Halfrek. If you could just get me to her…" Faith looked at Willow. "I know I could kill her."

"I'm working on it Faith. There's got to be some kind of locator spell I could use." Willow frantically began turning pages.

"Um, I need to pee." Anya announced as she got up and went to the bathroom.

"Thanks for sharing." Buffy mumbled to herself.

In the bathroom, Anya called out to Halfrek.

"Anya, I must say I loved the vengeance stories we used to swap, but these visits are getting tiresome."

"Shhh!" Anya replied in a hushed tone. "Hallie they are going to kill you! And I know they will figure out a way to. You have to reverse the curse now."

Halfrek sighed but snapped her fingers. "It is done." And with that Halfrek vanished.

Anya walked back to the table and sat near Willow to finish counting her money and to see if she had really reversed it.

Brooke was standing over Buffy, reading the book she had laid out before her. The green glow surrounded her like it did the first time, but she did not pass out. Instead, a look of confusion passed over her features as she looked from Buffy to Rachel.

"Rachel?"

Rachel looked up from the talisman she had been playing with. "Yeah?"

Brooke ran over to her, nearly tackling her off the chair, as she enveloped Rachel in a tight embrace.

"Did you break the curse?" Buffy asked a puzzled Willow.

"N-no I didn't do it."

"Then Halfrek must've." Faith interjected. "I dunno why she would though."

"Who cares? As long as I am Brooke-free I'm happy." Buffy smiled but Brooke glared at her. "I mean that in the nicest of ways."

"Uh-huh. I'm sure." Brooke didn't stay offended long as she looked back at Rachel. "You know, you're jealous side is kind of hot."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Yeah she only tried to beat me up a couple of times."

"Aww, you almost _tried_ to beat up a slayer for me?"

Rachel smirked. "Maybe."

Brooke took Rachel's hand in her own and started walking towards the front door. "We're going home."

"Ew." Buffy said as the two walked out the door. At that same moment Giles came in from the training room.

"Could I speak with you for a moment?" Giles motioned for Willow and Buffy to come in. Faith was about to follow them when Willow projected her thoughts into Buffy's mind.

"_No Faith."_

"_Why not? We can trust her."_

"_Scooby meeting only, Buffy."_

"Uh, Faith, why don't you stay out here and help Anya count her money?"

"That will not be happening. Only I can touch the money." Anya called out from her spot at the table.

"What is this B? Am I not trusted?" Faith crossed her arms.

"Of course you are Faith. It's just…some private stuff needs to be talked about."

"Whatever." Faith was pissed but she reluctantly sat down beside Anya.

Buffy and Willow then followed Giles into the training room.

"No need to worry Giles. Somehow the curse was reversed, so we're in the clear."

"That's good news to hear, Buffy. But my main concern is actually Peyton. She seems reluctant to fully accept her powers. She's been sarcastic and not at all interested in her studies with Willow and Tara."

"Well, what do you want me to do?" Buffy replied.

"She has a lot in common with you, talk to her. Perhaps you could inspire her."

Buffy sighed. "I'm not good with the whole inspiring speeches thing."

Willow let out a laugh but immediately stopped when Buffy glared at her. "Sorry. It's just that you do them all the time."

**Faith & Buffy (later that night) **

Buffy stretched and cracked her knuckles as she and Faith walked through the cemetery. They wanted to make one last sweep without Brooke and Rachel around. As they rounded a corner, a vampire grabbed Buffy by the throat and slammed her against a crypt wall. She struggled for oxygen as his grip tightened. Faith yawned and weakly shoved the stake through the center of the vampire's heart.

He turned to dust and Buffy coughed. "Jesus Faith. Did you have to wait so long?"

"Yep."

"Why are you all bad moody?" Buffy asked, annoyed with Faith's constant one-word answers.

"Because."

"Because why Faith? Talk to me." Buffy pleaded. All she wanted was the other slayer to finally let her in.

"Because after all I've done, I'm _still_ not accepted or trusted by you and your little gang."

Buffy moved away from Faith, almost shocked by her sudden anger.

"Faith what you talking about? Of course we trust you."

"Then why is that Giles never lets me in on anything? All he ever does is send me on the dangerous missions to have your back. But when it comes to anything important, the let's-not-tell-Faith game gets started. And I'm sick of it."

Faith spun around and pushed Buffy against the wall. "But most of all, I'm sick of you."

Buffy felt a sudden urge of anger but before she could say anything Faith had closed the gap between them. Faith gave her a short, but rough kiss. Faith pulled away and Buffy turned her back to Faith, creating distance between them.

"I can't do this Faith."

"Why not?" Faith cried out in frustration.

"I'm not gay."

"B why does that label mean so much to you? Be straight, bi, or gay. I don't care what you call it. It doesn't matter to me and it shouldn't matter to you. I feel this connection, B. And I know you do too. Why won't you just give us a chance?"

Buffy stared at the ground and just shrugged.

Faith sighed and walked away.

**SUMMERS HOUSE**

Buffy opened the door to her house. The house she shared with her sister, her best friends, and the Chosen Three. It's funny how unconventional her family had become, yet that's what they were to her. Her family.

And that's what Faith was. But who knows where Faith was and if she was even coming back.

So Buffy walked up the stairs, passed Dawn who called out to her, passed Willow who needed help moving her night stand, and passed Rachel who told her they were out of milk. She walked passed it all, not a thought in her head except for Faith.

She entered her bedroom, leaving the door slightly ajar like her mother used to do for her when she was alive. She slipped under her covers and tried to clear her mind of all thoughts, but it was nearly impossible.

Buffy didn't want to hurt Faith anymore, but she couldn't change how she felt. She did feel extremely guilty. Suddenly, music drifted from Peyton and Brooke's room and into hers. She heard the lyrics and laughed bitterly.

_don't look away, don't run away,  
baby it's only life,  
don't lose your Faith, don't run away,  
it's only life.  
You were always playing hard,  
never could let down your guard,  
you can't win, if you never give in…_

Buffy covered her ears trying to block out the remaining lyrics. She didn't need a sign like that to confuse her.

She got up and ran to Brooke/Peyton's room. She walked up to the stereo, ejected the CD, and proceeded to snap it in half.

"What the hell?!" Rachel was the first to react.

"You have to pay for that!" Peyton and Brooke called out in unison.

Buffy walked out of the room, completely ignoring the teenagers as she mumbled incoherently to herself.

"I seriously don't need anything to make me feel worse than I already do."

**AN: Thanks to all the reviewers, new and old, hope you liked the chapter. You brachel fans should be happy lol.**

**Song used: It's Only Life by Kate Voegele**


	10. Chapter 10

"Yay! First day of school!" Brooke cheered as she sat in the front seat of Peyton's car.

"Whoo-hoo!" Dawn replied sarcastically from the back seat.

Brooke turned around to face Dawn and Rachel. "Aw come on Dawnie. Aren't you at all excited that we'll be there with you? We can't really talk to you, but hey, you are showing up with us. That'll definitely get you _some_ cool points."

"Can we just go? I don't think I can deal with your fake perkiness anymore."

Brooke frowned. "I don't need another broody friend. That's what Peyton is for."

Dawn sat up quickly. "I am NOT broody."

"You're right. Whiney better describes you." Brooke's comeback caused Rachel to smirk.

Before Dawn could come up with something to say, Peyton hopped into the front seat and started up the car.

"Finally!" Rachel and Brooke said together.

**SUNNYDALE HIGH**

"Nice. All of our lockers are together." Peyton remarked as she spun her combination lock.

"Well, yeah, since you're new you all got the extra lockers." A girl dressed in somewhat tight jeans and a designer tank top said from behind Peyton.

Peyton spun around and embraced the girl. The girl had dark brown hair, almost black, and greenish gray eyes. "Hey! It's so good to see you again."

Brooke and Rachel looked on in confusion. Brooke crossed her arms. "And you are?"

Peyton quickly jumped in. "This is my friend that I met at the Bronze."

"Oh, so you're Brian."

The girl laughed. "No, actually it's Brianne. Like, Bree and Anne put together."

Brooke didn't like this girl. Not one bit. She felt something about her was off. It was either that or she didn't like Peyton being friends with someone. She went with the first one.

Peyton gave Brooke a back-the-fuck-off look. "So, Bri. Wanna show me to my first class?"

"Yeah, sure. Let's go."

Peyton and Brianne walked down the hallway.

"Can you believe her? Sure, Peyton. Whatever you want Peyton." Brooke mocked.

"What's your problem, Brooke? She seemed nice to me."

"I just don't like her. Whatever. Time to go find Cordy."

**Back at the Summer's house**

Faith silently slipped into the room she shared with Buffy and began to pack her things. After the confrontation they had, Faith felt like it'd be a good idea to get out of the house.

_Maybe I can get a motel room. I don't wanna leave Sunnydale until Waterite is gone. I'm pissed and upset about Buffy but I can't leave her or Rachel in danger_. _I care about them to much. Besides, B assigned me to be Rachel's trainer._

Faith sighed. The slayer tried making these excuses to herself. She tried making these the reasons she had to stay. But she knew why she was staying. She was hoping, waiting even, for Buffy to come around. She wasn't ready to give up.

That is what Faith had always been good at. Running away, screwing up, going evil. But not this time. This time she was going to try.

She was about ready to make her escape when Buffy entered the room.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothin'."

"Faith." Buffy walked up to the other slayer and took her hands in her own. "You don't have to leave."

Faith took her hands away from Buffy's grasp. "I gotta, B. Look, I'll be around. Just give me a call when it's time to train Red."

Buffy watched as Faith made her way to the door. Without turning around, Faith whispered something that she would only tell Buffy.

"I was lost and hurting for so long, B. I was in a dark place and I didn't know what or who I was. But now I finally know what I want. It's up to you now B. You gotta find your way out of that same darkness."

Faith left the room leaving a numb slayer in her wake.

**Peyton's car**

"Hmm…Not bad for a first day. I'd say we're pretty much known and wanted." Brooke smirked as she leaned over and kissed Rachel. "I've been waiting to do that all day."

Rachel smirked and was about to lean in when Peyton spoke up.

"Number one rule of being in my car: no kissing, having sex, groping secretly, or anything that has to do with grossing me out and/or ruining my leather seats."

Brooke grumbled. "Aw come on Pey-"

Rachel jumped in before Brooke could continue. "Fuck!"

"What?"

"We forgot about Dawn. Turn around."

"No."

Rachel's eyebrows scrunched together in surprise. "We have to. Besides, we're only like two minutes away."

"No. That bitch can walk."

Brooke's eyes filled with concern. "Peyton, don't talk about Dawn like that. Are you okay?"

Peyton laughed. "I was kidding, obviously. Does anyone get my humor anymore?"

Brooke was unconvinced but didn't say anything more as Peyton turned her car around.

Later on that afternoon Rachel was sitting on Peyton's bed, doing her homework. Brooke was on her own bed doing the same.

"Homework on the first day? Unbelievable."

Rachel giggled. "Babe, it's not like it's the first day out of summer. We kind of dropped in during the middle of the year."

"So? We're new. New means no homework on the first day."

Rachel just shook her head at her girlfriend's logic.

Brooke sighed and closed her book. "So I hate to get all serious on you, but I need to ask you a question."

Rachel gulped. "Yeah?"

"I totally trust you and everything, but with me being all in-love-with-Buffy, I just wanted to make sure you didn't do anything stupid while I was like that…So did you?"

Rachel shook her head. "Phst. Of course not. All I did was almost kill Buffy."

Brooke laughed and walked over to hug her girlfriend. "I knew you wouldn't. I mean with the whole Peyton and Lucas thing I can't really handle being cheated on and lied to anymore."

Brooke wrapped her arms around the redhead. "You're amazing, you know that, right?"

The redhead felt her heart drop with guilt.

One thought filled her head. _Brooke can never find out._

**AN: Kind of a filler. Sorry. I totally wrote this chapter to avoid doing my summer work. Reports suck. Thanks for all the reviews :) Feel free to give me some suggestions or what you thought. Anything at all, just leave a review.**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Buffy has that guidance counselor job at the high school just to let you know. **

**Special thanks to **_angeljenni5_**and **_shezrecklessx _**for the reviews :) Come on people, I know you're reading, try and leave a review :)**

It had only been two days since Faith had left. Buffy lay down on her bed facing the ceiling, riddled with guilt. Thoughts flew in and out of Buffy's mind but all of them revolved around Faith.

_I don't like Faith. At all. Not even one bit. Okay, so that's a lie. But what am I supposed to do? I can't let her in. _

Buffy thought back to the first time she met Faith. Buffy knew the instant she saw her that she was her new slayer. Yes, _her_ new slayer. They had that connection that no one else would ever understand.

Buffy's mind drifted further as she thought about all their synchronized slay-age and nights they wasted dancing at the Bronze.

Those were the nights Buffy felt the best. _Free_. Faith brought out those fun characteristics that Buffy thought she lost through all the almost-end-of-the-world experiences.

Buffy rolled over onto her stomach, pushing her face into the pillow. _What am I supposed to do? _

The answer to her question lightly knocked on her door.

"Go to bed whoever you are. There's school tomorrow." Buffy's voice was muffled as she replied to the knock.

"It's me, B."

Buffy instantly froze. She wasn't ready to face Faith. She didn't know if she could control herself around the dark slayer.

Faith didn't wait for the okay. She opened the door and walked into the room, a sense of determination radiating off of her. Buffy knew the look as she had seen it each and every time they went on patrol.

"Look, I know I was supposta wait for you to come to me and everythin'…but I at least want an answer, B. I wanna know why you aren't willing to give us a shot."

Buffy sat up and fiddled with the pillow she had put on her lap. "I don't know."

"Don't give me that shit. You know why. Just tell me. I can take it." Faith sat down beside Buffy.

Buffy sighed. "I'm afraid of you Faith."

A flicker of surprise went across Faith's features. "What?"

"I… I was _devastated_ when Angel went evil. I had to kill him Faith."

Faith tried really hard not to go on the defensive. She whispered, "Are you afraid I'm gonna go evil again? I thought you understood that was behind me, B." Faith put on a nervous smirk. "I'm for the good guys and whatever now."

"It's not that, Faith. I believe in you, you know that. I know you aren't evil."

"Then what is it?"

"I'm afraid of losing you. I made Angel turn in to Angelus. I was only good enough to be a fuck for Parker, and I even made Riley feel so alone that I drove him to vampires! Bad things happen when I decide to care for someone. I'm like cursed or something."

Faith was quiet for a moment until she burst out laughing.

"Are you serious right now? This isn't funny. I just bared my heart to you!" Buffy replied incredulously.

"B. I'm a slayer. I'm your match. I can take care of myself…" Faith wrapped her arm around Buffy's shoulders, bringing the blonde slayer closer to her. "And I can handle you and that curse you think you have."

Buffy smiled and leaned in towards Faith. She grazed Faith's lips before pulling back. "I want to try this Faith but I want to go slow. And I want it to be a secret…for now anyway."

"I'm down with that."

**SUNNYDALE (The next morning)**

Brooke walked hand in hand with Rachel towards Peyton's car to overhear Peyton and Dawn bickering like five year olds.

"Oh yeah, well, you have a really stupid name." Peyton remarked.

"I do not."

"Actually, now that I think about it, you all have stupid names!"

"We do not!"

Peyton smirked. "I have Faith that the Buff man will propose to his girlfriend by the Willow tree at Dawn."

Dawn crossed her arms in defeat and looked out of the window. "You suck."

Peyton did a small victory dance involving some old school 70's dance moves.

"Well that's something I don't see everyday." Rachel murmured as Brooke yelled at the two to stop arguing.

The foursome drove to school in silence besides Peyton's music blaring. When they were about a minute away, Peyton spoke up.

"Rachel, quick, check my pulse!"

"What? Why?"

"I think I died and went to heaven. Brooke is actually not talking for once."

"Ha, ha. Very funny, Sawyer." Brooke sarcastically replied from the back seat.

"You know me. Queen of comedy."

Twenty minutes later, Peyton and Rachel were sitting at a library table with Brianne. It was their free period and usually Brooke was around but she had gone to Buffy's office to talk about the training planned for that night.

"So, what's your deal Peyton? You've been weird lately."

Peyton scoffed. "My deal? What's your deal? You're the one who has been jumping anytime anyone says the name Faith."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, come on, Rachel. Just admit it."

"Fine. I had sex with Faith."

Bri and Peyton instantly let out gasps as Rachel covered her mouth.

"I have no idea why I just told you that. Please don't tell Brooke. Please." Rachel begged.

"We won't." Bri promised.

**SUMMERS HOUSE (later that evening)**

Rachel and Brooke were down in the training room with Faith and Buffy. They were supposed to be working on getting the Chosen Three to work together but it was almost pointless without the third member.

"Where the hell is she?" Faith asked as she watched Brooke punch a punching bag.

"I…don't….know." Brooke replied in between punches.

Rachel appeared in front of Faith. "Can we just have the night off? I'm getting the hang of this invisibility thing and this whole 'teamwork' thing doesn't work without the actual team."

Faith looked towards Buffy for her approval. Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "Fine. But this is the first and last time this kind of thing happens."

**THE BRONZE**

Rachel and Brooke walked into the Bronze like they owned the place. "Let's have some fun tonight." Brooke smirked. She grabbed her girlfriend's hand and led them to the dance floor.

Rachel wrapped her arms around Brooke, pulling her close to her body. Brooke's back was to Rachel as the two found the rhythm of the song. The redhead rested her hands on Brooke's hips and Brooke put her hands on top of them. There intimacy grew as the song continued. Rachel playfully let her hand slip to Brooke's butt.

Brooke laughed. "Rachel!" She grabbed the offending hand and put it back to her hips.

The brunette titled her head and looked up at her girlfriend. "You are _so_ hot." Brooke whispered huskily into Rachel's ear. "If we were out-of-the-closet, I would be kissing you right now."

Rachel felt a surge of desire rip through her. "Don't tease me."

"I'm not teasing…just being honest."

"Want me to be honest?"

"Sure."

"I uh…I love you too." Brooke beamed and was about to kiss Rachel when she realized where they were.

"Wanna go home?"

Before Rachel got the chance to answer Brooke cut her off. "Oh my god. There's Peyton with that Brianne chick." Brooke pointed to a back table. Peyton had successfully ruined the moment.

Brooke stormed over to the two. "Peyton! We were supposed to…" Brooke trailed off as she felt Bri's gaze upon her. "...well, we had a thing. Remember?"

"Obviously not." Peyton snapped back. "Get off my back."

"Peyton what is the matter with you? You know our…thing…is important!"

Peyton stood up and got in Brooke's face. "I think you should do a little less worrying about me, and a lot more worrying about your girlfriend."

Peyton spun Brooke around. She glanced into the crowd to see Rachel dancing with Faith in a very friendly way. They were much more apart than Brooke and Rachel had been. Their hands her carelessly interlaced in the air.

"What? Faith? They're _just_ friends."

"Really? Do friends usually have sex?"


	12. Chapter 12

"_What? Faith? They're __just__ friends."_

"_Really? Do friends usually have sex?"_

Brooke's face flashed from pain to anger. "What the fuck did you just say?"

"Faith. Rachel. Sex." Peyton quickly summarized.

"I don't believe you." Brooke replied. She knew her best friend wouldn't make something like this up but she truly did not want to believe the blonde.

"Oh, yeah? Well I heard it straight from Rachel's mouth. Bri was with me. Isn't that what she said?"

Brianne nodded in agreement.

"Why would Rachel tell you something like that? You're my best friend so obviously you would tell me." Brooke tried to make the situation logical. Maybe Rachel had said it offhandedly just to piss Peyton off. Maybe it was just all a misunderstanding.

"Well…Brianne and I may have _accidentally_ cast a truth spell while we were in the library. We didn't think it was a big deal until Rachel spilled her secret."

Brooke's hands balled into fists at her side as she felt the anger rippling through her. She silently stormed off towards the Bronze's exit.

Rachel looked up from her dancing in time to see her girlfriend leaving the club. She stopped dancing and nodded towards the doorway. Faith looked on curiously and followed the redhead.

The two pushed their way through the crowd. "What's goin' on?" Faith yelled over the music.

"Not sure. But Brooke has her I'm-gonna-beat-a-bitch face on. She might need backup."

Faith grinned. "Nice."

Faith and Rachel finally caught up with Brooke who was well on her way into a deserted ally.

"Brooke, wait up!" Rachel lightly grabbed the back of Brooke's arm.

"Don't." Brooke hissed as she violently pushed Rachel away.

"What's wrong?" Faith asked from behind the two.

Brooke suddenly whipped around and punched Faith in the face, sending the slayer flying into a building wall. Apparently anger gave Brooke even more power than she knew she possessed.

Rachel gave Brooke a look of hurt and confusion.

"Just. Don't." Brooke's eyes held nothing but fury. She gave Rachel one last look and then sprinted away.

Rachel walked over to the slayer. Faith pushed herself off of the ground. She gently touched her fresh black eye with her fingertips.

"She knows." Rachel whispered.

**Dawn & Rachel's room a little later…**

"So are you guys broken up?" Dawn asked from her bed. She was lying down but leaning on her elbow so she could look at Rachel. The redhead had just finished telling her the whole story.

Rachel sighed. "I don't know. Looks like it. But technically she hasn't dumped me…I guess."

"Have you tried talking to her?"

"No. She's giving me the silent treatment. Actually it's worse than that. She's giving me the you-don't-exist treatment."

"But it'll be okay, right? I mean, don't you guys get all hot and bothered when you fight?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Not this kind of fighting, Dawn."

"Oh." Dawn contemplated the new information. "You must be pissed at Peyton."

"Not really. Brooke's her best friend; it was kind of the right thing to do. But I don't want to talk about it. Good night."

Rachel rolled over so that her back was to Dawn. The younger of the two eventually gave into sleep. Rachel wasn't as lucky. Silent tears ran down her cheeks. She didn't think she could fix it this time.

**Buffy and Faith's room**

Faith and Buffy were together now, but they had agreed on not rushing anything. Besides, it would be sketchy if someone walked in on them sleeping in the same bed. So they decided Faith would remain in the cot.

She was sitting on said cot and Buffy was in the bathroom changing. As soon as Buffy had gotten back in to the bedroom, Faith hugged her and pulled back with a blank expression.

"There's somethin' I gotta tell ya."

Buffy laughed. "We've been together for a day and you already have something to tell me?"

Faith didn't laugh. "B…You know how Brooke came home all pissed and she gave me this black eye?"

Buffy nodded.

"Well, there's a reason. And I'm sorta involved…okay, completely involved."

Buffy crossed her arms uncomfortably. "What'd you do Faith?"

"I'm just gonna say it 'cause there's no way to sugarcoat it. I had sex with Rachel while Brooke was in lala-land with you."

Buffy's face didn't change as she took a moment to process. "Okay. So now that that is out of the way…" Buffy pushed Faith so that she was sitting on the cot again. She playfully sat in her lap and left small kisses on the side of the dark slayer's neck.

"Woah. Wait a sec. You ain't pissed?"

"I know you're sorry for it, Faith. And we weren't together when it happened. Plus, I've made plenty of sex mistakes in my life; I'd be a hypocrite if I judged you."

Faith smiled. "Well, in that case..."

She flipped Buffy on to the cot and teasingly kissed her for a few seconds before pulling back. Buffy let out a 'hey' of protest. Faith quickly had her fingers running through blonde hair as she leaned down for a searing kiss that led to a heated make-out session.

**Kitchen…**

Rachel decided to go down to the kitchen at 3 AM in the morning because she still couldn't sleep. As she approached the kitchen entrance she surprisingly heard voices. Thinking it was odd for anyone to be in the kitchen at 3, she went invisible and silently crept into the corner of the room.

Peyton and Brianne were sitting at the table discussing something in hushed tones. Rachel crept closer so that she could hear the conversation.

"The plan is working out just like we wanted it to. We got the secret that would ruin Rachel and Brooke. There's no way they will be able to…" Brianne's sentence trailed off as she looked around the room.

"What is it?" Peyton asked.

"We have company." Brianne stood up and Rachel held her breath.

With one quick motion Brianne had Rachel by the throat. Rachel instantly became visible.

Peyton's eyes held no emotion. "Make her forget."

Brianne nodded and put her hand to Rachel's forehead.

"Stop…it…" Rachel choked out.

Brianne's hand glowed red and Rachel instantly fell asleep. "Carry her to her bed. She won't remember a thing."

**AN: So, now you all know why Peyton has been so cranky lol. Thanks for all the reviews :) keep 'em coming. Just to let you know, updates will probably be on weekends because it's the only time I have some downtime.**


	13. Chapter 13

Rachel stretched and yawned as she woke up from a restless night of sleep. It had been two weeks since Brooke had found out about Faith and Rachel. She still hadn't uttered one word to her maybe-girlfriend. The only time she ever spoke about the redhead was to insult her. Clearly, she was pissed.

Peyton was still acting strangely but most of the scoobies blamed it on normal teenager behavior. Faith claimed Peyton was obviously just going through her rebellious stage.

Rachel made her way down the stairs in her black cami and black shorts that read CHEER on the back of them. She sat at the kitchen table. Willow, Tara, and Brooke were all there quietly chatting and eating their funny-shaped pancakes.

"Morning." Tara called out to the redhead, smiling.

"Good morning, Tara." _She is definitely the nicest person in this whole house_. Rachel thought to herself.

"Funny shaped or round shaped?" Tara asked as she motioned towards the frying pan.

Rachel giggled. "Um, round shaped?"

"Rachel just has to be difficult, doesn't she?" Brooke sniped, staring into her pancakes.

The redhead slouched and looked hurt. She still felt at fault and no matter what insult Brooke threw at her, she would just take it. _I deserve it._

"Uh-um…Brooke why don't you go upstairs and finish getting ready?" Willow nervously tried to break up the tension.

Brooke walked towards the stairs and yelled out thanks to Tara before walking the rest of the way to her bedroom.

"Thanks, Willow." Rachel mumbled to the other redhead. Willow put a comforting hand onto the younger girls arm.

**Sunnydale High…Cheerleading practice after school…**

Rachel and Brooke had finally been put on the squad about a week ago. Their gymnastic abilities surpassed everyone on the team, especially since they had their super powers to rely on.

The squad had also unanimously named Brooke co-captain with Cordy. Surprisingly, they worked well together. Cordy knew the dance moves and Brooke knew the stunts.

"Okay, girls. Start the dance on the music. Kelly and Rachel do your back handsprings and fall back into the dance as soon as it hits the eighth beat." Brooke ordered.

Cordy hit the play button on their stereo and the girls began their routine. Only ten seconds in, Brooke hit the pause button and the girls came to a halt. She crossed her arms. "Tell her, Cordy."

"Rachel your technique sucks. You were a half second behind Kelly! Focus!" Cordy barked.

"Sorry." Rachel mumbled. Without warning, Rachel's eyes began to tear up. She began to fast walk to the locker room, trying to avoid the other girl's glares.

Cordy scoffed.

"What a baby." Someone said from the middle of the girls.

Brooke sighed and followed her girlfriend into the locker room. "Rachel?"

"I can't take this from you anymore, Brooke. Not from you." Rachel was sitting on the floor, her back pressed up to a locker and her knees pulled up to her chest. Brooke could hear Rachel choking back her sobs. "I am so sorry. Please, just give me another chance." Rachel begged.

Brooke again sighed as she sat down on the side of Rachel.

She quietly whispered,"How can I give you a second chance?"

Rachel's voice trembled as she tried to keep from crying. "I'm broken without you. Don't you see that? I was broken before you came in to my life; incomplete. And when you were with Buffy, I thought I lost you."

Rachel let a small sob escape before continuing. "They were all telling me they would find out how to break the curse, but I always had that nagging suspicion that I had lost you forever. The Faith thing was just me falling back into my old ways because I was scared, Brooke. I know that's not an excuse but please…"

Rachel could no longer keep it inside as she was full out crying now.

"You're the only one that can fix me."

Brooke pulled Rachel into a tight embrace. "Shhh. I'm sorry for the way I've been acting. But I still need time."

**Training Room at the Summer's House**

Nine o'clock came around and Buffy decided they would try and do some teamwork drills with the girls. They had all come a long way with their individual powers but they had yet to work together. Buffy knew to wait a while before forcing the three in to the same room considering Brooke wasn't talking to Rachel and Peyton was acting distant.

"Alright. Let's try this again." Buffy threw a punch at Brooke and Brooke quickly dodged it while attempting to hit Buffy. Buffy caught Brooke's arm and swung her fist until it stopped not even a centimeter in front of the brunette's nose.

"Brooke how many times do I have to almost break your nose before you get it? React faster. Stop thinking so much and work on instinct."

"I'm trying." Brooke whined.

Buffy clapped her hands together. "Why don't we just move on to the next thing?"

"Finally." Peyton replied. She was staring at her nails in a bored fashion.

"Okay, you're goal is to stop me and Faith. Think of us as Waterite. But Peyton, no high voltage stuff. Just your weaker stuff should do the trick."

"You mean sendin' us flyin' on our asses?" Faith asked.

Buffy nodded. "Basically….Ready?" The Chosen Three nodded. "Go."

Peyton sighed in the corner and didn't move. Rachel instantly went invisible and Brooke attempted to hit Faith. Brooke actually caught the slayer by surprise and had her sprawled out on the floor. Buffy was about to go help when she was punched in the face by an invisible Rachel.

"Not bad, Lil B. But it ain't good enough for me." Faith sprung up from the floor and threw one punch and quickly had Brooke pinned to the ground.

Faith laughed. "Your turn, B."

Buffy backed herself against the wall and tuned out all other sounds. She was waiting to hear one noise that would give Rachel's position away. There it was.

Buffy tackled Rachel to the floor after hearing the creaky step Rachel made.

"We're going to have to train a lot harder." Buffy mumbled to herself after letting Rachel get up.

Brooke walked over to Peyton and pointed her finger accusingly. "Why didn't you help us?"

"I didn't want to."

"Well you have to, Peyton!" Brooke replied, raising her voice.

"Fine." Peyton stood up and her eyes flashed red. Before anyone could stop her, Peyton raised her hand and sent a blinding flash of purple light towards Brooke. The bolt hit Brooke square in the chest, sending her flying backwards into a wall. She fell to the floor like a rag doll.

"Oh my god." All three girls in the room shouted.

Rachel ran towards Brooke. "Peyton, how could you?"

She felt Brooke's pulse.

"She's…dead."


	14. Chapter 14

"Oh. My. God. I can't find her pulse. I can't find a pulse!" Rachel began to panic. She lifted Brooke's head on to her lap and stroked the brunette's hair.

Peyton's eyes remained a disturbing red and volts of energy were streaming from her hands.

"Rachel, go get Willow, now." Buffy ordered in her no-bullshit voice.

The redhead reluctantly let go of Brooke and went invisible. Peyton sent out a few bolts but missed Rachel by inches.

"Why are you doing this, Peyton?" Buffy asked as she put herself into a defensive stance.

Peyton laughed and cocked her head to the side. "Doing what?"

"You just _killed_ your _best friend_! That's what."

A flicker of the real Peyton momentarily showed itself but the moment passed.

"Be careful, B. We don't know what she's capable of anymore." Faith protectively stood slightly in front of Buffy.

"Now, now Faith. No need to protect her. I won't hurt her." Peyton smirked before sending another purple bolt from her hand. It grazed Faith's shoulder and it sent her flying to the floor. "Now you, on the other hand..." Peyton's evil laugh rang out through the room.

Buffy didn't leave her position. She knew if she turned her back Peyton would fire. "Faith, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fuckin' fine." Faith grumbled as she slowly sat up.

Willow and Anya stormed into the training room with Rachel at their heels. "What happened?"

"Brooke's…" Rachel trailed off, unwilling to say the word. Willow looked down at Brooke and she at once knew what happened.

"Uh, um…We can still save Brooke. In the prophecy it says something about Peyton being able to heal the other Chosen Ones."

"That's a problem, Willow. Peyton's the one that did this." Buffy pointed accusingly at Peyton.

Suddenly Peyton sent a warning bolt towards the group. "Enough of the talking, okay? Let's have some fun."

Willow began chanting under her breath in order to stop Peyton. The blonde got distracted by the sudden spell and Buffy took it as an opportunity to strike.

She punched Peyton in the nose, causing a stream of blood to flow down her face. Peyton's eyes returned to its normal color and her hand shot up to her nose.

"Heal her. Now."

Peyton looked down at her best friend who was again in the arms of Rachel. "Oh god. What did I do?"

Peyton dropped to her knees beside Brooke. Her hand traced Brooke's arm. Peyton looked up at Willow.

"I don't know how." Tears streamed down the blonde's face.

"Well you better learn, Goldilocks." Faith was about to go over and shake the blonde but Buffy held her back.

"Faith, don't."

Anya stepped up from behind Willow. "I think I know what's wrong with her. The red eyes and overall weirdness could be because of a manipulation demon."

Buffy's features scrunched up as she looked at the ex-demon. "A what?"

"They find people who are in a period of transition and they use spells and mind control to force them to do what they want. The trick is they can only control one person at a time and it takes a long time to do. The victim has to trust the demon. They are usually hired out. I wonder how much they get paid. I'd be good at that, you know." Anya explained.

"So someone musta wanted Peyton to kill Brooke and Rachel. This wasn't some random attack."

"Faith's right, but we should work on getting Peyton to heal Brooke. We can worry about this stuff later." Buffy said and walked over to Brooke without another word.

Willow kneeled down near Peyton and took her hand into her own. "You can do this. Just breathe and let it flow through you…concentrate on one thing and one thing only…healing Brooke…"

Peyton did as Willow told her. After a moment a light glow was beginning to emanate off of Peyton's hand. She touched Brooke and eventually the brunette began to stir.

"What happened?" She put a hand to her head. "Jeez, I don't even remember drinking."

Laughs and sighs rang out from everyone in the room.

**Buffy's Living Room a few hours later…**

Brooke was lying on the couch, her head resting on Rachel's lap. Buffy was sitting on the other side looking concerned.

"Willow's working on figuring out who the demon is."

"Okay…" Brooke mumbled.

Rachel smiled. "Is it weird that I'm glad Peyton is being manipulated by a demon? It explains why she's been bitchy and why I told her about…" Rachel trailed off not wanting to bring it back up. "Well, you know."

"Nah. It's not weird. I'm kind of glad too. We won't have to fight her to come train anymore once Willow fixes things."

Rachel's smile turned into a sad one as she looked down on to a now sleeping Brooke. "It's to bad Willow can't fix everything."


	15. Chapter 15

Willow rushed into Buffy and Faith's room. Luckily for Faith and Buffy, Faith was in the bathroom. If Willow had came in five minutes earlier, they would have had a lot of explaining to do.

"It's Cordelia! It has to be! I've talked to all three of the girls and she's the one person they've all talked to and had problems with."

Buffy, looking bored, raised her head from her pillow. "No it isn't."

Willow looked a little offeneded. "What? Why not?"

"Because. She's Brooke and Rachel's friends. Anya said the demon had to be close to Peyton. So figure out who Peyton's been hanging out with lately."

Willow heard the sound of the sink turn off and out walked Faith. She cutely dried her hands on Buffy's shirt.

"Hey!"

Faith ignored Buffy's objection and looked at Willow. "Maybe it was that Brianne chick. She's been over a few times, hasn't she?"

Willow and Buffy gave Faith a confused glance. "Who? I've never even heard the name before."

It was Faith's turn to look confused. "Peyton introduced her to us and everythin' a few days ago. You don't remember?"

Both Willow and Buffy shook their heads. "It must be her then." Willow concluded.

"How do we stop her? We can't kill humans."

Willow responded with a shrug. "I'll go research."

**Peyton & Brooke's Room…**

"Brooke I am so sorry." Peyton was currently wrapped around Brooke on her bed.

"Peyton I already told you it's fine. I know you were under the influence of a demon. And anyway all that's left of the attack is a small headache…which you're kind of making worse. Please let go?"

Peyton nervously giggled and let go of Brooke.

Brooke looked up at Peyton. "Can you do me a favor and go get me a soda or something?"

"Sure." And with that Peyton left the room.

Rachel appeared on the side of Brooke. "I was seriously this close to hitting Peyton over the head for hugging you like that." Rachel made an inch wide measurement with her pointer finger and thumb.

"Jealous?"

"Very." Rachel interlaced her fingers with Brooke's and was surprised to see the brunette not pull away.

Rachel cautiously brought Brooke's hand to her mouth and kissed her knuckles. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too." It seemed like Brooke was leaning in to kiss Rachel but Peyton barged back in, soda in hand. Rachel instantly went invisible before Peyton saw her. She reappeared seconds later.

"Sorry. Instant reaction when I see curly blonde hair now." Rachel teased the blonde.

Peyton stuck her tounge out. "You're funny."

**Sorry. I know this was a super short chapter, but i've been totally obsessed with the new season of one tree hill...and it's forced my brain to only think about brachel so i've been working on my other fic. I promise the next chapter will be up by next week and by request it shall be very fuffy filled. it should also begin my new plot line for this story. thanks for the reviews :)**


	16. Chapter 16

"What are you doin' with that, B?" Faith backed away nervously from the blonde.

"Does this bring back any bad memories, F?" Buffy replied harshly. Buffy traced the edges of the knife she had stabbed Faith with many years before with her fingers.

"Do you remember what it felt like when the blade made its way through your flesh? Or maybe it hurt you more just to know that I had finally given up on you." Buffy made her way closer to Faith.

Faith began to panic. Her legs literally would not move and her arms were equally unusable. "Buffy, please. Not again. I thought we were okay. You said I was good."

Buffy let out a disturbing laugh. "Silly Faith. _I_ am a good person. _You_, on the other hand, are a murderer. And you always will be. You must be stopped."

"But I've done good. I-I have been helpin' people out. Yuh know, the Scoobs and everyone."

"Tsk-tsk. Making up lies, Faith. Why don't we just add that to the list of reasons why you deserve to die?"

Faith closed her eyes just as Buffy was about to plunge the knife into her abdomen. When she opened her eyes again, she realized she was now lying on her bed and Buffy was shaking her awake.

"Faith? Are you okay? You were screaming in your sleep." Buffy's eyes were full of concern.

Faith told Buffy about the nightmare she had just had.

Buffy took Faith into her arms. "Faith...You are more than a good person. You're…great. You know that, right? I don't want you to ever believe that I don't think highly of you."

Faith shyly smiled. "Thanks. But I'm still feelin' a lil shaken. It just felt so…real."

"Hold on a second. Do you mean real-real, as in demons-are-after-us real?"

"I'm not sure, B. I just feel like if you hadn't woken me up from the dream…well nightmare… you woulda killed me, for real."

"I'm going to talk to Willow, don't fall asleep again, just in case. Okay?"

" 'Kay."

**Willow & Tara's room…**

"Hey Will, got a second?" Buffy knocked on the frame of Willow's bedroom door.

Willow looked down at a sleeping Tara and slowly but surely unwrapped herself from her sleeping girlfriend. "Sure, Buff. What's up?"

"It might be something, or it may be nothing. But Faith had this nightmare-ish thing where I tried to kill her. She said it felt really real and was a little worried that if I hadn't of woken her up she would have really been killed."

"Get killed in a dream? Not possible. I've heard of spells that manipulate or plant dreams but there's no way a dream could actually kill someone."

"Okay. Thanks Will."

Buffy left the room and Willow slipped back into bed and closed her eyes. She rolled over to wrap her arm around Tara.

When she interlaced her fingers with Tara's, she noticed her hands her very cold.

"Baby, you're freezing." Tara didn't respond. "Baby?"

Willow turned the fellow witch towards her and shrieked in surprise to see Tara's entire face purple.

"Oh my god!" Willow ran her hands through her hair and began sobbing loudly. "Tara please. I need you. Open your eyes."

A hideous lizard-like demon appeared out of thin air and quickly approached the depressed redhead.

"Get away from me!" Like Faith, Willow was frozen to the spot. At least she still had magic on her side. She started chanting loudly to get rid of the evil creature now threatening her life.

"It's not working. Why isn't it working?" Willow's sobs got louder and sadness ripped through every fiber of her being.

"WILLOW!"

Willow opened her eyes to see a very much alive Tara staring back at her.

"You were just screaming in her sleep. Are you okay, sweetie?"

Willow shot up in her bed. "Uh-oh."


	17. Chapter 17

**Brooke & Peyton's Room**

Peyton bent over a broken, colorless, dead Brooke. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she fell to her knees. She took her best friend's hand into her own. Peyton's other hand grazed the gaping wound in Brooke's side.

"It's your fault." Peyton looked up to see an angered Rachel standing above her. "You did this to her with you're uncontrollable power! You should have been training with the slayers!"

Peyton let out another sob. "But I was under the control of a demon!"

"No you weren't Peyton. It was just in your head. You made that up to make yourself feel better." Rachel paced back and forth, fury rolling off of her in waves.

"It's…not true…" The sobs coming from Peyton were making it hard for her to speak or even breathe.

"You know it is Peyton." Rachel bent down so that she was now eye level to the blonde. "There's only one way to make it right."

Peyton could feel a bolt of energy forming. It was beginning to flow through her and she couldn't stop it. She saw her arm begin to point towards herself but she was being forced by some mysterious power.

Rachel pointed her finger in the blonde's face. "Now all you have to do is pull the trigger."

**Kitchen **

Faith, Buffy, and Willow all gathered around Buffy's cell phone that was lying on the kitchen counter. With the speakerphone on they could clearly hear Giles speaking.

"Actually, there is a demon that fits the situation. I believe, if I remember correctly, he doesn't actually have a body. He's more of a spirit of some sort."

"So then how do we beat the guy?" Faith asked.

"You have to defeat him in your dreams."

"Piece of cake ." Buffy replied.

"Not as easy as you'd think, B." Faith countered.

"Faith is right. For now I suggest you refrain from sleeping until I arrive at the house. We can formulate a plan then." Buffy hung up the phone.

"Oh, shit! We forgot about the brats!" Faith began sprinting up the steps.

**Brooke & Peyton's Room**

Peyton was doing all she could to hold back the energy that was trying to fight its way out of her arm.

"Just let it go, Peyton. Look at you! You're holding Brooke's hand, Peyton! She's dead because of you. Let the power go. It's the right thing to do."

"PEYTON!" The sound of her name jostled Peyton out of sleep. She opened her eyes to reality and took in her surroundings.

Peyton mumbled incoherently to herself. "So close...so close..."

Buffy stormed in after Faith and wrapped her arms around the shivering blonde. "Jesus, Peyton you have a fever."

Brooke and Rachel came stumbling in from the bathroom. "What's going on?"

"There's some sort of demon attacking us in our dreams. So no sleeping."

Brooke threw her hands up in disgust. "How are we ever going to defeat Waterite if we keep getting attacked by every demon-y thing on the planet?" In a quiet, defeated voice, Brooke added, "Is it to much to ask for a day off?"

Brooke put her face in her hands. The rest of the gang looked at Brooke with their mouths open, not sure how to comfort the girl.

"I got her." Rachel whispered. She wrapped her arms around Brooke's shoulders and guided her out of the room.

"When will Giles be here?" Peyton asked.

Buffy kept her arms around Peyton. Faith felt a small twinge of jealousy but it passed quickly.

"Hopefully soon. It's 1 AM right now and he said he'd be here in a half hour. I want you to go into Dawn's room for now. No one can be alone. Play cards, watch TV, sing, I don't care what you have to do to entertain yourself."

Faith was the first to leave Brooke/Peyton's room. She walked across the hall, aiming for the bathroom, when she stopped to listen to Brooke, who was sitting on the staircase with Rachel. Her slayer hearing proved to be good for eavesdropping, but now Faith wished she hadn't stopped to listen.

"Is it not enough that they control our entire lives? Haunt our every move? Do they have to invade our one safe haven: our dreams?"

"I know, baby." Faith could tell that Rachel was trying to console her. "We're going to be okay though, I promise."

"I love being some badass Chosen One. I really do. But sometimes…I just wish this never happened to us."

**Buffy's Room**

Buffy stared out the window. The bright moon was full and Buffy's gaze was upon it. The slayer didn't turn around even when she heard the click of the door opening and closing. She felt Faith's arms wrap around her stomach.

"Whatcha thinkin'?"

"Someone is going to have to fall asleep and beat this thing."

"Maybe Giles has another plan."

"I doubt it, Faith. I'm going to have to fall asleep and defeat it myself."

"I'll help you, B."

Buffy turned her head slightly and gave Faith a slow kiss. She pulled away.

"I know you. And I could tell how scared you were when you woke up. There's no way you're doing that again."

"I'm a slayer. I can handle myself."

Buffy turned herself so now she was face to face with Faith. "I know that. But I want this one on my own, okay?"

"Aight B. But I got one question for you."

"Question away."

"What's your biggest fear?"


	18. Chapter 18

"How did ya sucker me into watching this?"

"It was easy. You'd do anything for a kiss." Buffy replied.

Faith grinned as she leaned back against the bed's headboard. Buffy had her back leaning against Faith's chest. Faith had her arms securely wrapped around the blonde.

"This is seriously like the cheesiest movie ever."

Buffy gasped. "Are you kidding? Titanic is the most romantic love story of all time! I think it invented love stories. Besides, it's entertaining us until its dream time."

Faith laughed. "I could think of many other things we could be doing... but, whatever you say, B."

After a few more moments of Titanic, Faith scoffed. "Phst. Jack is supposed to be some perfect guy. I don't see it."

Buffy laughed and looked up at Faith, suddenly turning serious. "I don't mean to get all serious this early in a relationship…and I don't want to scare you off…but…"

"Spit it out." Faith replied playfully.

"I just want you to know you mean a lot to me."

"Thanks, B. You mean a lot to me too." Faith replied sincerely. She kissed Buffy briefly. "So, what are the brats up to?"

"Last I heard Brooke and Rachel wanted to play strip poker."

"Then what the hell are we doin' in here?"

Buffy scoffed and playfully hit Faith. "I told them it would scar Dawn for life and to play Go Fish instead."

"Way to ruin the fun! Yuh know, you never answered my question. What are you most afraid of?"

"Wow. Your new nickname should be the Subject Changer."

"Says the girl who is tryin' to change the subject."

Buffy sighed. "I honestly don't know Faith."

**Dawn's Room**

"Go fish." Dawn snickered.

"Screw it!" Rachel threw the cards in her hand across the room. "I hate playing cards."

Brooke laughed. "Rachel don't be such a baby."

"We've played this like, what? Six times now? And I lose every damn time. I quit!"

Peyton fake coughed. "Sore loser!"

"Oh yeah?" Rachel replied. She instantly goes invisible and the three girls shriek in surprise.

Peyton scrambled towards the door but got tackled on the way there. "Shit." Rachel got her in a headlock. "Ouch! No fair, no fair! I can't see you!"

"Well I have these stupid powers for this very reason."

"Whoa. Peyton's invisible now too. Rachel…you can turn other people invisible!"

"Would you look at that? Now me and Brooke can sneak out whenever we want."

Rachel, now visible, walked over to Brooke and put her hands on the brunette's waist. Turning invisible again, Peyton and Dawn could hear noises coming from the two of them and could guess what they were doing.

"Ew." The blonde blocked her ears with her hands.

"Yay! You guys are back together? This is great!"

**Buffy's Room**

"How long have you lasted without sleeping?" Buffy asked Faith, with her head resting on the dark slayer's shoulder.

"I did this whole party tour thing like a year ago with a few guys. Lasted a full week and a half without sleep."

"You found a bunch of guys who could last with no sleep?"

"Okay, so it was a new guy at each party, but I didn't wanna say it that way."

"Ha. I've only last three days without sleep…but I've never actually had the need to stay up longer than that."

"Well we won't have ta worry about staying awake if we can defeat this thing. Besides…Brooke can stay awake just as long as us and I bet that Tara could figure out a spell to keep everyone else awake if it comes down to it."

"Very true." A comfortable silence swept through the room before the doorbell sounded.

"Finally Jeeves is here."

"Faith!"

**Summers living room…**

Buffy and Faith raced to the door like children. Faith stuck out her tongue when her fingers hit the door one second before Buffy's did. "Ha. Beat ya!"

Buffy rolled her eyes and opened the door. There, instead of Giles, stood Spike.

"Hello there, pet."

"What the hell do you want?" Faith's demeanor instantly changed. "I'm pretty sure Buffy told you to scram."

"Well lookee here. Got me two slayers for the price of one."

Buffy crossed her arms and looked away. "You aren't welcome here, Spike."

"Never was, but it didn't stop me from coming inside." Spike grabbed Buffy forcefully by her hips and pushed their bodies together.

Faith reacted with a punch to Spike's nose. She pushed him up against the wall and raised him by his leather jacket.

"Don't fuckin' touch her, peroxide. Do you get me? Get the fuck outta here."

Spike smiled, trying to taunt the slayer. "Bloody hell. How come nobody told me Buffy had downgraded to the weak slayer."

"Shut up."

"I always knew you liked the bad apples. Angel, me, and now Faith? The girl you sliced up? Bravo, Buffy. Bravo."

Before any other words could get out of him, Faith threw another punch and then sent Spike flying into the opposite wall. She picked up a stake from the weapon chest and launched herself at the vampire.

Spike reacted with a kick that Faith dodged. Two more punches thrown and missed before Spike finally landed a kick to Faith's jaw. He jumped on top of her, forcing her back to the floor. Both were ignoring Buffy's plea for them to stop.

Spike leaned down and whispered to Faith. "Face it, slayer. You will never make her scream the way I did."

Faith lost it. She frantically kicked Spike off of her and leapt into action. Punch, kick, punch. She even stabbed him with the stake but missed the mark by four inches. Spike yelped in pain and Faith used the opportunity to send Spike flying with a roundhouse kick to the stomach.

Just as Faith did this, Dawn had been at the bottom of the steps. "What's going on?"

"Dawn no!" Buffy cried out. But it was to late. Spike crashed into her, effectively sending the both of them crashing into the wall lining the staircase. Spike groaned but Dawn was rendered unconscious.

Buffy ran over to Dawn and shook her frantically. "Dawn, wake up! Wake up!" With tears in her eyes, Buffy turned her head and locked eyes with Faith.

"The demon is going to get her Faith. She has to wake up now or it might be to late."


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: Dawn's dream is in italics. Reviews are appreciated, special thanks to ****shezRECkLESSx for your help (:**

Brooke hurriedly ran downstairs, hearing the commotion.

"Get Dawn upstairs." Faith ordered. Without question, Brooke picked Dawn up and took her upstairs.

Faith spun around to see Buffy racing towards the backdoor. "Buffy!"

Buffy didn't turn around. "Giles is coming." She said with no emotion. She slammed the door on her way out.

Faith sighed and ran her hand through her hair. She noticed Spike at the front doorway.

"Now wait a minute, I didn't mean to hurt the little bit."

Faith kicked him so hard that Spike flew off the steps and slammed his head against the cement. Faith ran towards him and pushed her foot onto Spike's chest. If he had to breathe, the wind would have been knocked out of him.

"I'm not like Buffy." Faith hissed. "I don't show mercy. Don't come back here again. If Dawn is not okay after this, so help me God I will hunt you down, torture you, and kill you."

**Backyard…**

Buffy sat on the porch steps, staring out into the darkness, just like she always did when something huge was going on. It was evident by the tears in her eyes that she was tempted to cry, but she told herself she was too strong for that.

Peyton tentatively opened the back door and took a seat near Buffy. "Giles told me to tell you that the spell for you and Brooke should be ready in five minutes."

Without looking at Peyton, Buffy replied, "Thanks."

"I know you're freaked but-"

Buffy's head snapped towards Peyton. "Do you have a sister?"

"No, but-"

"Then you have no idea how I feel right now."

"Are you kidding?" Peyton gave a hurt look towards Buffy. "I almost killed Brooke. I _did_ kill Brooke. And she means more to me than anyone else. She _is_ my sister and I killed her. So yes. I know how you feel."

Buffy looked taken aback before she put her head in her hands. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I know you feel like you failed Dawn but this will work out. You've saved her a million times already this is nothing new."

This caused Buffy to let out a light laugh. A silence ensued and Buffy breathed deeply.

"I love sitting out here. The silence…the peace. Except, it's not really that silent. I can hear everything going on around me. The neighbors fighting and that stray dog barking. Even with all that this seems to be the only place where I can block everything out."

Buffy pushed her hair behind her ears. "Actually, I always seem to get interrupted. Spike, Faith, _you_..."

Peyton lightly pushed Buffy. "Hey! It's only because we care about you." Peyton shrugged her shoulders. "Well me and Faith anyway."

"So how's school?"

Peyton laughed. "You're asking me about school at a time like this?"

"Why not?"

"Okay, well, not so great. Some girl is going to start tutoring me this Monday."

"I thought you were smart?"

"I am! I just…suck at Trig. I'm an artsy kind of girl. I dig English and music and art…but Trig? Not so much."

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't even know what Trig is."

Their conversation was interrupted by the door opening again.

"It's time." Willow whispered.

**Living Room…**

Buffy and Brooke sat on the floor, Indian style, and faced each other. They grabbed each other's hands. Faith, Willow, Tara, Rachel, Peyton and Giles were crowded around watching.

"The spell will project you two into Dawn's dream, which means we won't know what's going on. So be-be careful." Tara explained as she lit the final two candles. "Are you ready?"

Both slayers nodded and closed their eyes. Tara said the spell in a weird language and both slayers slumped against the couch.

_Brooke and Buffy opened their eyes. They were standing in what appeared to be a park. Dawn was happily swinging on the swing set._

"_Dawn, what are you doing?" Buffy asked._

_Dawn looked confused but answered the question. "Swinging." _

_Buffy whispered to Brooke. "This is weird. It's supposed to be a nightmare. Where's the demon?"_

Rachel was sitting behind Brooke so that the brunette would be more comfortable. The others had lifted Buffy so that she was now lying on the couch.

"I don't like this." Faith said as she paced back and forth. "I shoulda went with 'em."

"Not to worry, Buffy and Brooke are very capable of defeating this demon." Giles replied as he took his glasses off and wiped them clean.

"Besides, we should see their reactions. If it looks bad, we'll wake them up." Willow added.

Faith shot her a death glare. "Wake Buffy up before she saves Dawn and she will kill you."

Willow played with her hands nervously and sat in the nearest chair. "Right."

"_She's not in any danger." _

"_Then what are we doing here?" _

_Buffy ignored Brooke's comment. "He must not be after just anyone. He's after people with power. Willow, Faith, Peyton….which means he wants us."_

_The second Buffy ended her sentence the scene that they saw was sucked away, similar to what water looks like when it drains down a sink._

_Buffy and Brooke were in a world of black when suddenly they saw a floating person. When their eyes adjusted they realized it was Willow. She was glowing red and sparks were flying off of her._

"_Buffy. Please. Help me. I can't control my power!"_

"_Oh God. What do I do?" Buffy frantically looked at Brooke._

"_Stay calm, Buffy. Remember this isn't real. Just think." _

_Buffy took a deep breath. She ran towards Willow and tackled her to the ground. "You'll be okay, Will."_

_Willow smiled and faded away._

"_That wasn't so bad. It didn't scare me enough to freeze me like it did to Faith." Buffy got up and pretended to wipe dirt off her pants. _

_A voice surrounded the two girls. "Not so fast, slayer. If you think that's all I have for you, you are in for a real surprise."_


	20. Chapter 20

_A new world slowly appeared around Brooke and Buffy. They were looking out over a bridge, a shallow murky pond underneath it. _

"_Oh god." Brooke breathed out._

"_What? Where is this place?"_

"_We're in Tree Hill. This is the bridge my long time friend Mouth got killed. They dared him to jump off the bridge freshmen year and the water wasn't deep enough…" Brooke trailed off as tears threatened to come out. "I've been afraid to come near it since."_

_Having no control over herself, Brooke began walking towards the edge of the bridge to face her biggest fear. Brooke put her hand out towards Buffy. "Please! Stop me!" _

The gang watched as Brooke raised her hand in the air and Buffy grabbed it from her spot on the couch, both girls making no other movements.

Still sitting behind Brooke, Rachel's eyebrows raised. "That was creepy."

_Buffy grabbed hold of Brooke's arm but even with her slayer strength they both continued moving. _

"_Come on, Brooke. Don't be afraid. You can do this. His power faded after we defeated him the first time. One more time and we're out of here."_

_Brooke looked at Buffy but she barely registered anything that had been said. All she could focus on was her fear. It was consuming her._

_She had been a part of the dare. She had cheered just like the others had. Go Mouth! Don't be such a baby._

_Now she feared that bridge. She feared the memories that it held and she feared the pain it could bring up. But mostly, she was afraid of Mouth._

_But then, just as she neared the edge of the bridge, something Buffy said finally stuck._

"_It wasn't your fault, Brooke! Do you understand me? Don't be afraid!" Buffy was nearly shouting at her._

_But it was too late. Brooke slipped off the bridge but Buffy still had her hands on Brooke's._

_She was dangling from the bridge but her fear was decreasing with each word Buffy spoke. "Brooke, you need to live. Let go of the fear. You're a slayer and you are stronger than him. This isn't real." Buffy emphasized the last sentence._

Brooke and Buffy opened their eyes and slowly sat up. Brooke clapped her hands together. "Thank god that's over!"

**The next day after school…**

"Hey Brooke!" Dawn hopped along the hallway until she was standing in Brooke's doorway. Dawn had taken the day off of school to recuperate from the blow to the head from the night before. Brooke was sitting down on the bed painting her nails.

"Hi Dawn." Brooke replied with a bored expression.

"Wanna go shopping?"

"No."

"How about see a movie?"

"Nope."

"Play a card game?"

"Negative."

"Brooooke! Why not? It's not like you are doing anything important." Dawn whined.

"Okay, no offense Dawnie, but you were at your whining stage eight years ago. It starts to get old." Brooke painted her last nail and capped the polish.

Dawn crossed her arms. "Hmph. Fine." Dawn went to turn away but thought better of it. "Please?"

Brooke dramatically sighed. "No. I am waiting for Rachel to come home from running. This is very important."

"Why?"

"Fine, Dawn. You're old enough to hear this. Rachel went running…in just short shorts and a sports bra. And when she comes home, she's going to be all worked up and hot…"

"EW! She'd be all sweaty!" Dawn ran out of the room with her hands over her ears.

"Kinda the point, kiddo!" Brooke shouted to the retreating Dawn.

Suddenly, Rachel appeared in front of Brooke. "So, you think I'm hot?"

Brooke looked Rachel up and down, her abs looking toned and beads of sweat running down her cleavage.

Brooke Davis is never one to be speechless, but this was pretty damn close. "Uh-huh."

The brunette tried to put her hands on Rachel's hips. Rachel slyly grabbed Brooke's hands and straddled her.

"No touching…yet." Rachel ordered. Brooke's eyes began to glaze over.

"EW!" Dawn shouted from her room.

A knock on the door interrupted their moment.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Brooke groaned in frustration.

Buffy opened the door. "Nice try, but I saw the door open when you came in through the kitchen. You know the rule, if you two are alone in a room the door has to be open."

"Do you realize you act like more of a mom than our real moms do?" Rachel asked in a joking manner.

Buffy recognized the sadness hidden behind Rachel's eyes even though the question was asked in jest. She decided to answer back jokingly because she figured if Rachel wanted to talk about it she would bring it up with Faith.

"Shut it. I am so not mom-like. I'd like to think I'm more of the cool-aunt variety."

Brooke rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. So if you're so cool…will you let us go to Cordy's party on Saturday?"

"Fine. But-"

"Cool aunts never have a but. They just say yes." Rachel interjected.

"Okay, fine! Then I'm mom-like. You guys can go if the three of you go patrolling tonight. Me and Faith need a night off to decide what we are going to do about Spike. Deal?"

"Deal." Rachel and Brooke said in unison.

**Sunnydale High Library…**

"Are you Peyton Sawyer?" Peyton looked up from her drawing to see a mousy-yet-pretty brown haired girl standing in front of her.

"Yup. You must be Haley James?"

"The one and only." Haley sat down and opened up her Trigonometry book. "So…trig isn't your favorite?"

"Not at all."

"Oh, come on! Everyone loves a little sine and cosine."

Peyton laughed. "You're a little bit nerdy aren't you?"

"I prefer the term smart. But yeah."

Peyton smiled, happy to have a quirky tutor.

**That night on patrol…**

Brooke, Peyton, and Rachel were walking side by side discussing the plans for the weekend. None were to interested in searching for vampires.

"So Peyton, are you coming to the party on Saturday?"

"Nah."

"Why not?" Brooke linked her arm with Peyton's. "We haven't had any decent Breyton time. You have to go."

"I already have plans."

"Doing what?"

"Um…I have a tutoring session."

"Phst. You are not getting tutored on a Saturday night. Unless it's the kinky kind…" Brooke threw a smirk towards Rachel.

"Okay, fine. We are just hanging out. I was hoping to find a new friend and after the Brianne thing…I'm hoping this one isn't evil."

"Well you should totally bring her to the party."

"Maybe."

"Your friend is my friend, P. Sawyer."

"Fine."

Without much effort, Rachel stabbed a vampire that tried to surprise them. He turned to dust and Rachel turned to her counterparts.

"You know a party involving us is always eventful."

**AN: i would just like to say this is the first story i've ever written that has made it to 20 chapters. Yay me! haha**


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: I'm moving the story forward to Valentine's Day. So about a month has passed.**

"Brooke where are you taking me?" Rachel laughed as the two walked through the woods. Brooke was holding Rachel's hand and guiding her around the tree trunks.

"I'm not telling you, it's a surprise! Just keep your eyes closed!"

"Fine, fine. But if you make me walk into a-" Thump. Brooke accidently guided Rachel smack dab into a tree branch.

"Mother fucker!" Rachel shouted as she put her hand to her now throbbing face.

Brooke tried to stifle her laugh. "Oh baby are you okay?" She attempted to help the now hurt girl but Rachel shrugged her off.

"Don't touch me I'm pissed at you."

"Don't be mad at me, Rachel. It was Nature Mother's fault for growing the tree."

Rachel slowly got back to her feet. "It's Mother Nature, Brooke. _Mother. Nature_."

"Whatever, you won't be mad at me as soon as we get to your surprise."

"I'm keeping my eyes open this time."

"No."

"Brooke, you just walked me into a tree!"

"Trust me or I'm not taking you." Brooke stubbornly stood her ground and crossed her arms.

Rachel sighed in defeat. "Fine, bitch." She mumbled and closed her eyes, taking Brooke's hand in hers once again.

"Yay!" They walked for a few more minutes before Brooke squealed in delight again. "Okay, open them!"

Rachel opened her eyes and for maybe the second time in her life she was rendered speechless. "Wow."

"I know, right!" Brooke happily agreed.

Rachel was looking out at an isolated frozen pond and a light snow was falling. "How did you do this?"

"I had Tara work her mojo. I know you've always loved to ice skate and since there's no ice to be found in Sunnydale…I had her make you some." Brooke picked up a pair of ice skates and gave them to Rachel. "Enjoy."

Rachel hurriedly put on the skates and got on the ice. "Watch me go!" Rachel sang in sing-song voice. Brooke loved seeing this more childish side of Rachel. She just looked so cute and it made Brooke proud to see Rachel so happy.

Rachel did a little twirl and then skated backwards. "Aren't you going to skate with me?"

Brooke let out a scoff. "No. Don't you remember the last time you made me skate with you? I fell on my ass like twenty times. We couldn't have sex for like a week because my body was to sore."

Rachel laughed at the memory. "_You_ didn't have sex. I never said I didn't."

Brooke glared at her. "Shut up."

"Anyway, now you're a slayer. So I bet you have the coordination automatically."

Brooke seemed to contemplate this new information. "Hmm…"

After another moment Brooke put on her own pair of skates. "What the hell, it's worth a try."

Brooke, with confidence because of her slayer abilities, ran onto the ice…and toppled over on her ass.

Rachel laughed. "That's payback for slamming me into a tree."

"Ugh. I'm not moving." Brooke remained laying flat on the ice while Rachel skated around her.

"Come on." Rachel held out her hands and Brooke reluctantly took them. When she was finally able to get up, she wrapped her arms around Rachel's waist so that she wouldn't fall again.

"Happy Valentine's Day." Brooke whispered into Rachel's ear.

"You too, baby. I loved this, you know. Thank you." Rachel smirked and added, "It was great seeing you fall on your ass."

**Faith and Buffy at the cemetery…**

The slayers sat with their backs against a crypt, enjoying a meal that Buffy had Giles make them for their mini-picnic. It was the least he could do; he made them patrol on Valentine's Day!

"So any news on Spike?" Faith asked, her mouth full.

"Faith, ew. And no. I think he moved on to another town because he knows we were looking to kill him."

"Man, if I could get my hands on him…"

"Let's not think about him." Buffy threw the rest of her sandwich over her head and sat on top of Faith. "I was thinking we could finally tell the gang…about us…if you want."

"I'm ready when you're ready, B. It's up to you."

Buffy leaned in to kiss Faith but stopped.

"What's the matter?" Faith looked down to see a sword stuck through Buffy's stomach. "Fuck."

**Summers House**

"No sex for a week, Gattina." Brooke threatened as the two walked to Brooke's bedroom.

"Oh come on! I only let you fall once."

"We have cheerleading tomorrow that's already going to make me sore." Brooke opened the door to find Peyton and Haley studying on Peyton's bed. "My my. Have I interrupted something?"

Peyton glared at Brooke. "No. We're just doing some trig, Brooke. Which you would know how to do if you could make it past addition."

Brooke put her hand to her heart in a mocking manner. "Ouch, P. Sawyer, that one hurt. I do believe you are the one getting tutored. Isn't that right, Rachel?"

Rachel nodded in agreement. Haley knew about Brooke and Rachel, Peyton had told her because she was around a lot and she kind of picked it up on her own.

"So, Tutor-Girl, you've been friends with Peyton for almost a month now _and_ you two are hanging out on Valentine's Day. How long before you ask her out?"

"Brooke! Shut up!" Peyton begged. Haley turned beat red. "Haley don't answer that she's just being dumb. She knows I'm straight."

"Whatever. I'm just trying to speed up the inevitable."

"Says the super lesbian. Just because you lust after every girl you see doesn't mean I do."

Brooke's playfulness was gone. "Peyton you know I'm with Rachel and I'd never go after anyone else. How could you say something like that?"

The tension in the room went up five notches. Haley felt very awkward and Rachel was ready to pounce if her girl needed backup.

Before Peyton could answer they heard a loud crash come from downstairs.

"We'll go check that out." Rachel tugged on Brooke's elbow to get them out of the room.

They found Buffy lying on the kitchen counter with her shirt off and a bleeding wound on her abdomen. "What happened to her?"

"A demon surprised us and got her from behind. Help me stop the bleeding." Rachel ran to find a towel and Faith put her hand on the wound. Brooke went up to Buffy and gently touched her face.

"Don't worry, Buffy. You'll be fine."

Buffy surprised her by answering her. "Oh I know. This just hurts more than the last time."

Brooke jumpd away from Buffy."How did the demon surprise you? What were you guys doing?"

Faith and Buffy frantically looked at each other. "Nothing!" They answered in unison.

Maybe they weren't as ready to come out as they thought they were.


	22. Chapter 22

Buffy sighed. She untangled herself from Faith, who thankfully stayed asleep, and picked up the phone from her nightstand.

"Hello?" Buffy whispered.

"Buffy."

Buffy immediately could hear the sense of dread in Willow's voice. "What is it?"

"I'm at the library. Tara and I finally found the rest of the story to the Chosen Three. We found the prophecy."

"Shouldn't that be a good thing?"

"No, Buff. It's bad, really bad. Take Faith and meet us here."

Buffy shook Faith and the two were out the door in record time.

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to drive." Faith reluctantly called out to the blonde slayer.

"I'm driving." Buffy answered forcefully.

Seventy-miles per hour and four almost car accidents later, the slayers arrived at the library. Buffy felt her insides twist when she saw the faces of Willow and Tara.

Tara had silent tears flowing down her face and Willow was staring at the pages in front of her. She was no longer reading, just staring.

Buffy crossed her arms and approached the girls. Faith flipped a chair and sat on it backwards. "What's goin' on?"

"I tried finding a loop hole, anything...but..." Willow tore her eyes away from the book and glanced at Buffy. She couldn't keep eye contact so she turned the large book towards the slayers.

Buffy read.

_Two weeks after Cupid's Day, the three must attack on Waterite's weakest day. The one who possesses the magics must use her spell to lock the water demon in place. Then the invisible one must approach him without his knowledge and plunge herself into him, giving him a tangible form. The one possessing strength must take a blessed sword and plunge it into the heart. In order for Waterite to remain destroyed, the invisible one must not be healed. _

Buffy was shocked to the point where she felt numb. "Rachel has to die."

The library seemed to echo.

**Brooke & Peyton's room…**

"I love you." Rachel breathed into Brooke's ear. They were spooning on Brooke's tiny twin bed because they had heard the slayers leave the house in a rush. Might as well take advantage of the time. Luckily, Peyton had fallen asleep with her headphones in and she was still sleeping peacefully on the other side of the room.

"I love you too, even if you are the biggest skank I know."

Rachel laughed and played with Brooke's hair.

"But seriously…Do you know when I realized I loved you?"

"Hmm?" Rachel responded, clearly amused with putting her fingers through Brooke's hair.

"Remember that day in Tree Hill when you made me watch that CSI marathon for like four hours?"

"Yeah."

"I HATE crime shows. I'd rather watch Barney Meets Blue's Clues than watch a crime show. And I hate that you love them so much."

Rachel smiled. "Okay?" She didn't see where Brooke was going with this conversation.

"Well that's when I realized how much I loved you. Because I don't love _everything_ you do or _everything_ you like. But even with all that stuff…I still want to spend all my time with you. Whether it's watching four hours of a show I hate or going shopping or even kicking some vampire's ass. It doesn't matter. I just enjoy _you_."

Rachel flipped Brooke over so that they were lying face to face. "Well in that case…" Rachel gave Brooke an evil seductive look. "…enjoy me."

**Back at Sunnydale Library…**

"No way. No fuckin' way!" Faith picked up the book and hucked it across the room. "There's another way. We aint' killin' Rachel."

"We don't have a choice." Buffy remarked with no emotion.

"Are you crazy? Do you honestly think we can tell Brooke to kill the love of her life? There's no way in fuckin' hell I'm lettin' this happen."

"Faith it has to happen! I don't want Rachel dead; I've actually grown to feel like she's family. But its _one_ sacrifice to save every other person Waterite is going to kill. She was chosen for it, Faith."

"Don't give me that bullshit, Buffy. We were chosen to be slayers and we were supposta die ages ago. Well look at this, we're both still fuckin' here. We'll find another way."

Buffy raised her voice and angry tears streamed down her face. "I had to kill Angel! I know how it feels to lose someone you love because of what destiny chose for you! But it has to happen!"

"Then you can fuckin' tell them, cuz I sure as hell am not goin' to be a part of this. Destiny is shit, Buffy. We choose our destinies. And you seem way too quick to give up on them."

Faith flipped her chair so it bounced off a book shelf. She stormed out the library leaving the three remaining women in tears.

Buffy looked at Tara and Willow. Both witches looked defeated."How are we supposed to make someone accept that they only have two weeks to live? Especially someone we care about?"

Tara bursted into sobs.

**AN: Next chapter is the last, and then I might post an epilogue. Just to give you guys the heads up. Drop a review if you have the chance, and thanks for the previous ones :)**

**Sorry this was shorter than usual, but the entire chapter was to long so I ended it her to be picked up in the next chapter.**


	23. Chapter 23

Buffy ran out to the car with tears in her eyes. Faith was leaning against the car with one arm folded against her chest. She had a cigarette in her other hand. She took a drag.

Buffy stopped short of Faith, nervously fumbling with her fingers.

Faith took the cigarette out of her mouth. "Come here." She opened her arms and Buffy automatically settled herself into the comfort of Faith's arms.

"I know it has to happen, Buffy. I know that. But it's not gonna be an easy thing. She's like a sister to us, another brat like Dawn."

"We lose the people we love. That's how our lives work." Buffy answered bitterly.

Faith scoffed and took another drag of her cigarette, almost burning Buffy in the process. "What the fuck are supposed to say to Rachel? To Brooke? Do you actually think Brooke is willing to kill her girlfriend?"

Buffy pushed away from Faith and wiped her eyes. "It's her duty."

"She's a fuckin' teenager, Buffy! Its supposta be her duty to get a prom date. Not kill someone."

"We went through it."

"Let's just go home. No point in wastin' Rachel's time."

**Summers Home…**

Buffy and Faith arrived home sometime later. It was still late but they headed to Brooke's room after putting off the inevitable.

Buffy opened the door and quickly slammed it shut.

"What?"

Buffy's eyes were tightly shut. "Um, naked-ness."

Faith rolled her eyes and knocked on the door.

"Give us a sec!" Rachel called out. The two teenagers giggled as the quickly pulled their pajamas on. Neither aware of how much their lives were about to change.

**Summers living room…**

The slayers had explained to the three chosen ones the plan that had to be followed in order to defeat Waterite.

Rachel's face was void of any emotion.

Peyton was crying.

Brooke got up and put her hands to her ears, as if this small action would block the world out.

"This is a sick joke, isn't it?" Brooke paced across the room. "You guys are absolutely sick. There is no way in hell we're doing that. I didn't come to Sunnydale to…" Brooke sat down on the floor and put her head in her knees completely breaking down. The two slayers looked at the floor, not sure of what to say. Even Buffy didn't have a speech in her that could make this any better.

Rachel got up and walked outside without another word. She sat on the steps and looked out at the moon.

Brooke soon followed and Rachel responded by wrapping her arms around the brunette. "Don't even worry about it, Rachel. We aren't doing that."

Still void of emotion, Rachel ran her fingers through Brooke's hair. "We have too."

"Are you crazy?"

"No. But it has to happen. If I don't do this, it could cost hundreds of lives. Other families would lose their loved ones because of me."

"But _I_ love you! Doesn't that matter to you? Would you kill me if we were reversed?" Brooke shouted, nearing hysteria.

"No. You know I wouldn't."

"See? I won't do it."

"It's not your choice. It's my life, my choice." Rachel deadpanned.

"I can't do it. I can't just live the next week thinking about every time I touch you a certain way it could be the last time…"

"We can't be selfish here."

Brooke sobbed and her head fell back into Rachel's shoulder.

"You know I want to be here with you forever. But you have to be strong for me, Brooke. This is who I am. _This_ is what I was chosen for."

A long time later the two walked hand in hand back into the house. Brooke looked defeated and Rachel was as unreadable as she was when she first heard the news.

"We'll do it." Rachel said to the slayers and Peyton. Brooke and Rachel walked upstairs in silence.

**2 weeks later…**

No loop-holes had shown up to save Rachel's life. Willow and Tara had been on research duty for practically the 2 weeks straight without breaks. They came up with nothing.

It was the day. They had all tried to act as normal as possible throughout the two weeks. It's how Rachel wanted it. She and Brooke spent every moment together. Buffy and Faith carried around guilt with them wherever they went. They knew it wasn't their fault but they wished there was something they could do.

Tara had the blessed sword that was made especially for the chosen three magically shipped the night before.

It was time. They all stood huddled in the training room.

"Are you guys ready?" Buffy tentatively asked.

The three nodded. None of them were fully accepting the reality of the situation except for Rachel. She was the only one who believed that this was her final moment.

She looked over at Brooke and took her hand. She kissed her one last time as Tara recited the spell to attract Waterite. Her lips caressed Brooke's and Rachel gentley placed her hand lovingly behind Brooke's neck.

"I love you, Brooke Penelope Davis. Be strong for me."

Brooke didn't get a chance to react. Waterite appeared and put a water shield to prevent anyone except the chosen three from interfering. Faith tried slamming through the shields even though she knew she'd be of no use. Buffy put her head in her hands. Tara and Willow merely hugged each other.

"I was wondering when you would attack." Waterite cackled.

"Do it, Peyton." Rachel ordered. Rachel went invisible.

Peyton raised her hands and shot a continuous bolt of blue energy at Waterite. He shrieked in pain. He was no longer able to move.

Rachel stood dangerously close to him, contemplating if she could really do this. In the end, she knew she had to.

The redhead stepped inside of Waterite, giving him a form that could be killed. Rachel, still unseen, called out to Brooke. "Now!"

Brooke hesitated for a moment but when Rachel urged her on again she plunged the sword deep into Waterite's "heart". He shrieked in pain and so did Rachel. Rachel became visible as she collapsed to the floor, the sword sticking out of her chest.

Waterite turned into plain water as he hit the floor, leaving Rachel in a pool of her own blood and water. He was dead.

And so was Rachel.

The water shields dropped as Brooke ripped the sword out of Rachel. "Oh my god. Oh my god."

She took the redhead in her arms and held her tightly. Reality had finally sunk in. "Oh my god." She repeated.

The others looked on in total sadness, no one knowing how to fix it. Everyone in shock.

"Bring her back, Peyton." Brooke said through her sobs.

"I don't-"

But Brooke cut her off. "BRING HER BACK, PEYTON!" Brooke was full out sobbing. Her cries could be heard throughout the entire shop.

"Brooke, I-I can't. I made a promise to her that I wouldn't. She doesn't want any more people to get hurt by him."

"I don't care about other people! I just want her back…I just want her back…"

Peyton turned away from the scene, completely shaken. She couldn't stand seeing her best friend so broken. "I'm so sorry."

"Please, Peyton." Brooke was at a whisper. "Please. Bring her back to me. Please."

Buffy walked over to Brooke and tried to pull her from the floor. "Come on, Brooke."

"No." Brooke violently shrugged her off. "Rachel...Oh no... Please, Peyton."

Buffy went back to Faith. "Let's just give her some time."

As Brooke held the love of her life in her arms, a conversation they had had two days ago floated through Brooke's mind.

"_I don't want you to be ashamed to be happy when I'm gone."_

"_Let's not talk about it, Rachel." _

"_I mean it, though. Promise me you'll be happy."_

"_Rachel." Brooke sighed._

"_Promise me."_

"_I promise."_

"_Good. Because you are the strongest person I know. Just find that strength in you and know that this is what I want."_

"_How can you be handling this so well?"_

"_I was chosen for it, Brooke. Out of anyone in the entire world, I was chosen to save these future lives. Just like you were chosen to live on without me."_

_**THE END**_

_**AN: I hope you enjoyed the story, drop me a review to let me know what you thought. I have an epilogue written, let me know if you want me to post it or if you want the rest left up to your imagination. It's up to you guys.**_


	24. EPILOGUE

**Epilogue**

**3 years later…**

Brooke sat down on the soft, green grass. Brooke had a fleeting thought that they made the grass so green so that the cemetery wouldn't seem so depressing.

She sighed and traced the "R" in RACHEL GATINA with her finger. "I miss you." She breathed.

Rachel sat atop of the gravestone, her legs crossed and her classic smirk on her face. "I miss you too, slut."

"Hey, B. Davis." Brooke slightly jumped but calmed when she recognized the voice. She turned to see her best friend and her best friend's girlfriend. "Hi, P. Sawyer. Almost-Teacher-Girl." Brooke shared a comforting hug with Peyton and did the same with Haley. "It's good to see you guys. I wasn't sure you were going to show this year."

"Just because we transferred to Tree Hill University does not mean we aren't here for you. And of course we wouldn't miss this for Rachel, either." Peyton hugged Brooke again. The three sat down, preparing for their yearly talk with the redhead they all missed.

"So, Rachel. Haley and I have finally started dating. About 6 months now. I know if you were here you'd say 'I told you so.'"

Rachel laughed. "It's about time, Blondie."

"You're right. She would say that, and so will I. I told you so." Brooke playfully stuck her tongue out.

"Fine." Peyton stuck her tongue out. She looked adoringly at Haley and gave her a quick peck.

"Okay, ew."

"Are you kidding? You and Rachel were so much worse."

"Seriously, Brooke. We had sex in the same room Peyton was in." Rachel laughed.

"Okay, true." Brooke turned to Haley. "We used to have sex in the same room Peyton was in."

The threesome laughed and reminiscenced for over an hour about their lost friend.

Their laughter died down after Brooke finished telling the story about Rachel racing into the tree because Brooke had "accidently" guided her into it.

"Why don't you two head to my dorm room? I'll meet you there. I just want some time here alone before I head back."

"You sure?"

"Positive. I'll see you a little later."

Peyton and Haley said their goodbyes and walked hand in hand to their car.

Brooke sighed again and a few tears managed to escape. "You would have been 21 today. I know it's not that big of a deal since we've been drinking since we were 16, but still. I think I would have thrown you a big surprise party or something."

Rachel wore a sad smile as she listened to Brooke. "You know I would have figured it out. You're bad at those kinds of things."

Brooke let out a small laugh. "I bet you would have figured it out though."

"Peyton and Haley seem to be doing really well back in Tree Hill. I miss them a lot. After a year here in Sunnydale Peyton felt homesick. So Haley followed her. I don't feel resentment towards Peyton, though. She's not a Sunnydale kind of girl. I think she's trying to start a record label. She's going to be great one day."

Brooke picked up her purse and pulled out a picture of Dawn and placed it on Rachel's gravestone. "Dawnie's a senior in high school now. It's so weird. She goes to parties and dates boys. You should see Buffy. She has a conniption every time Dawn leaves the house."

Rachel looked at the picture even though she already knew what Dawn looked like. She was always looking over them. "She's beautiful."

Brooke let her emotions go. She hated that she cried every time she came to Rachel's grave. She knew Rachel would be mad at her for being sad. Tears were now streaming down her face but she wasn't yet sobbing.

"I just wish you were here, you know? I miss everything you made me feel. And I wish you could see everything I've been doing. I'm designing a clothing line for Macy's and I'm going to Sunnydale University to get a degree. Oh, and I kick vampire ass at night. Buffy and Faith say they've retired, even though I know they go out every night after I come back."

Rachel knelt on to the ground and was face to face with Brooke. "I've seen what you've done, Brooke. And I am so proud of you."

Brooke sat in silence for a while. "I've felt really happy, Rach. But don't think I don't think of you. Because I do. Before I go to bed and as soon as I wake up. And there's something I've been meaning to tell you. There's this girl in my business class…her name is Kennedy…we've been getting really close and I'm thinking about asking her out…I just don't know if I'm ready yet. I don't know."

The same sad smile reappeared on Rachel's face. She was still just an inch away from Brooke's. Rachel gently leaned forward and kissed Brooke. Brooke's face broke out into confusion and she put her fingers to her lips.

"Goodbye, Brooke Davis."


End file.
